ITIL Core Concepts Summary.pdf
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Transcript of ITIL Core Concepts Summary.pdf
ITIL Core Concepts Summary
Services
Services are a means of delivering value to customers by helping them achieve
their objectives without requiring the customer to own specific costs and
risks.
Service Management
Service Management is a set of specialized capabilities for delivering value
to customers in the form of services. ITIL® is a framework for IT Service
Management: focuses on the implementation and management of quality IT
services that meet the needs of the business.
Processes
Structure or model that turns a defined input into a defined output through
change and transformation. Produce business outcomes according to
constraints, objectives, and policies. The outcomes create value for the
customer or stakeholder.
Characteristics:
• Measurable.
• Specific result.
• Delivers its primary result to a customer or stakeholder.
• Responsiveness to specific triggers.
Functions
Specialized units or groups within an organization that perform a specific
type of work and create specific results, through defined roles and
responsibilities.
ITIL as a Good Practice Framework
Good practices are best practices which have gained wide acceptance and
adoption. In short, Good Practices have withstood the test of time.
Reasons for ITIL:
– it is
nonproprietary
– it is
nonprescriptive
– it provides best
practices
– it provides good
practices
Utility and Warranty
Service Lifecycle
Service strategy: determining
strategic objectives
Service design: Creating a
developed solution.
Service Transition: Packing,
building, testing and releasing
the service.
Service Operation: Running and
supporting a service.
CSI: maintaining the overall
health of IT service management.
Stage Purpose Objectives Service strategy
Value: Help
organizations to
develop and
maintain the
advantage of being
reliable and
valuable IT service
providers.
Create the
strategic goals
and objectives
that an
organization
hopes to
achieve through
the IT services
it delivers
• turning Service Management into
strategic assets to help service-
providing organizations achieve
their goals
• determining the nature and the
type of IT services to offer and
how they may differ from
competing IT services
• creating value for customers and
stakeholders
• defining service quality and
determining how to deliver and
improve it
• determining how to allocate
resources and creating a strategy
for leveling over allocated
resources, and
• determining where and when to
make strategic investments
Service design
Value: Good
quality, cost-
effective service
is created
according to
business
requirements.
Use the
principles
developed in
the Service
Strategy stage
and design new
IT services or
modify existing
ones.
• designing processes that ensure
efficiency, effectiveness, and
good Service Management
throughout the ITIL® Service
Lifecycle
• designing a stable IT
infrastructure that can be
expanded further or developed
without compromising time or cost
constraints
• recognizing and controlling
risks
• designing measurement methods to
evaluate the success of the
design processes
• assisting in the creation of
policies and standards through
feedback about the design
process, and
• ensuring that IT services do not
need to be reworked once
implemented
Service Transition
Value: Enabling an
IT service provider
to align services
with business
requirements and
operations.
Ensure that
designed IT
services are
efficiently and
effectively
transitioned
into operation.
• selecting resources and capacity
• controlling visible errors and
anticipating risks
• meeting service requirements and
constraints
• meeting customer expectations
Service Operation
Value: Culminates
the value that each
of the other stages
of the ITIL®
Service Lifecycle
provides, also as it is the stage
where the results
of an IT service
are most apparent.
This means that its
value can be
readily determined.
Ensure that the
processes for
effectively
running IT
services are
carried out
properly.
• continually maintaining any and
all technology that accompanies
the IT services
• ensuring that the everyday
operation of processes is
properly conducted and
controlled
• ensuring efficient and effective
management of the operational
processes, and continually
monitoring performance,
conducting assessments, and
gathering information
CSI
Value: The
implementation of
improvements yields
a measurable result
known as benefits.
Ensure that any
areas that need
improvement are
identified, and
that those
improvements
are effectively
and efficiently
administered.
• reviewing and improving on
aspects of each ITIL® Service
Lifecycle stage
• applying activities that improve
overall IT service quality, as
well as IT Service Management
processes
• ensuring customer satisfaction
while maintaining cost
effectiveness, and ensuring the
quality of the management methods
used for the CSI process
Service Strategy Stage
Strategy is a plan that outlines how an organization will meet a designed set
of objectives
Customers: Those who buy goods or services and establish service level
targets (Internal, External)
Differences:
• Link with business strategy and objectives.
• Cost of service
• Involvement in design
• Involvement in service transition and design
Service: Means of delivering value to customers. They facilitate the outcomes
customers want to achieve, while enabling them to pass specific costs and
risks for designing and maintaining the services to an external service
provider.
Classification I:
• Core
• Enabling (Allow users to use
core services)
• Enhancing (Provide
differentiated value to
customers, offered as an
additional service to increase
earnings)
Classification II:
• Internal
• External
• Supporting (Services used by the
service provider to support the
main services offered)
Service package: Detailed description of a set of related services that is
available for delivery to customers (one or more core services, as well as
supporting services).
Service portfolio: Complete set of services that a service provider manages.
Service provider: Supply IT services to customers (Internal, external and
shared: type of internal service provider that provides shared IT services to
more than one business unit)
Stakeholder: All those who have an interest in an IT organization, its
projects, or its services, and in the activities, targets, resources, or
deliverables from Service Management.
Factors that determines value:
• Business outcomes
• Preferences
• Perceptions
Risk: Uncertainty of outcome. It can take the form of positive opportunities
or negative threats. The main aim of Risk Management isn't to eliminate
risks, but to manage them effectively in order to improve performance.
Automation: service automation can improve the quality of delivered services,
reduce costs, reduce risks, and resolve production trade-offs.
Assets:
• Resources: take the form of
direct inputs into the
production or service delivery.
• Capabilities: components that
make up an organization's
ability to use and transform
resources in a way that adds
value to services or products.
Service Strategy Processes
1. Strategy management for IT services: The main aim of a strategy is to
define an organization's objectives and how it will go about meeting
these. It should also make it possible to determine exactly when
objectives have been met.
Advantages:
• ensures resources, capabilities, and investments are matched to
objectives
• ensures stakeholders are represented
• ensures service providers offer the appropriate set of services
• results in cost savings
• leads to increased investment in valuable projects
• helps an organization shift investment priorities when necessary
CSFs (Critical Success Factors): factors that must be in place if the
Strategy Management process is to be successful.
Key performance indicators (KPIs): metrics used to evaluate the CSFs. KPIs
should be monitored and used to identify opportunities for improvement.
2. Service portfolio management Is the complete set of services that is managed by a service provider.
Includes three categories: service pipeline (proposed or in development),
Service Catalog (design phase, live or available for deployment), and retired
services.
Phases of portfolio management:
• Define: every proposed service
is documented in business case,
also validates information about
the business outcomes
• Analyze: evaluating the IT
services to determine whether
they provide value, and how
supply and demand can be
prioritized and balanced.
• Approve: authorizing the level
of investment required to
deliver the targeted levels of
service.
• Charter: document that
authorizes an IT service project
and states its scope, terms, and
references
Triggers for service portfolio:
• A change in strategy
• A request from a customer
• An identified improvement
opportunity
• Feedback from staff
• Service Level Management
reviews
• Unexpected costs
Potential challenges:
• insufficient access to customer
and user information
• lack of formal project and
change management
• absence of project or customer
portfolios
• failure to consider customers'
required business outcomes
• rushed or uninformed decisions
• lack of defined metrics for
measuring value
3. Demand management Involves interpreting and influencing customer demand for services, as
well as providing capacity to meet those demands.
Challenges to overcome:
• Idle capacity (different than
unused capacity)
• Insufficient capacity
• synchronous production and
consumption
• inability to manufacture
services in advance
Pattern of Business Activity (PBA):
Workload profile of one or more
business activities. PBAs are used to
help to understand and plan for
different levels of business activity.
User Profile: pattern of user demand
for services. Each UP may include one
or more predefined PBAs.
4. Financial Management for IT Involves managing an IT service provider's budgeting, accounting, and
charging requirements; aggregate data input from across an organization and
then generate information from this data as an output.
Benefits:
• Operational visibility, insight,
and superior decision-making
• Use as a strategic tool
• Ability to demonstrate the value
of IT service
• Planning confidence
• Compliance
Concepts:
– service valuation
– demand modeling
– Accounting
– Variable Cost Dynamics (VCD)
Key Inputs for other processes:
o Service Portfolio Management: By using the financial data
generated through Financial Management processes to
understand the cost structures involved in the provision
of a service, organizations can benchmark the cost of a
service against the cost offered by other service
providers.
o Service Provisioning Optimization: SPO entails analyzing
financial data relating to service components and delivery
models to determine how to provide IT services at the best
price and quality.
Business case: is a decision support and planning tool that projects the
likely consequences of a business action, such as a service management
initiative.
5. Business Relationship Management Involves maintaining a positive relationship with customers by
identifying the needs and ensures that an IT service provider can meet
these needs with an appropriate catalog of services, helps to align
customers’ expectations with what´s being offered.
BRM has the highest level of contact with the customer along with SLM, the
difference is that BRM focuses in levels Strategic and tactical, like
customer perception and satisfaction, SLM focuses in the Tactical and
operational levels, the approach is oriented to metrics.
BRM puts a human face on the service provider, this helps to manage customer
expectations, disagreements and business needs.
Role: Business Relationship Manager
The main work of business relationship managers relates to the BRM process,
but their high-level roles give them broad involvement across different
processes. Tools: Customer portfolio, Customer agreement portfolio.
Customer Portfolio: document that records information about all of an IT
service provider's customers.
Customer agreement portfolio: document
used to manage service contracts, or
agreements with customers, should list
the contract or agreement that relates
to each IT service delivered to each
customer.
Service Design Stage
The main purpose is the design of new or changed services for the
introduction into the live environment.
The 4Ps of Service Design:
– People: scope, tasks, activities
and skills.
– Products: management support
tools and tech.
– Processes: processes and
procedures used to manage IT
services.
– Partners: suppliers,
manufacturers, vendors.
Service design aspects:
• Service solutions for new or
changed services
• Management information systems and
tools (including service
catalogue)
• Technology architectures and
management architectures
• The process required
• Measurement methods and metrics
1. Assess the existing business
requirements
2. Review existing IT services, and then develop solutions for meeting
business requirements.
3. Agreement must be reached on the budget and expenditure for the
design solutions (ROI, TCO).
4. Check alignment with strategies and security control.
5. Execute assessment to evaluate how to become the implementation of
the process.
Technology and management architecture:
development and maintenance of IT
policies, strategies, architectures,
designs, documents, plans, and
processes. Architectural design is used
for the deployment and subsequent
operation and improvement of appropriate
IT services and solutions throughout an
organization. Obtain balance between:
Innovation, Risk and Cost.
Required Processes: Service Design
should be defined in terms of a set
of processes, and a formal approach
to process design should be
adopted. The process's objectives
should drive the process output.
The output needs to be Measured
regularly against a set of norms
with the aim of optimizing the
process.
Measurement methods and metrics: Measures
whether the design solution is fit for
purpose, works right the first time, has
the appropriate level of quality.
• With immature processes, the first
two levels of metrics should mostly
be used.
• For mature processes, there should be
greater emphasis on the effectiveness
and efficiency metrics.
Types of metrics:
– Progress
– Compliance
– Effectiveness
– Efficiency
• Service design package (SDP): should be assembled for the subsequent
transition, operation, and improvement of the new or changed service
solution. An SDP is a set of documents that defines all aspects of an
IT service and its requirements through each stage of its lifecycle.
RACI(Model to describe roles and responsibilities):
• Responsible
• Accountable (also approver or final approving authority)
• Consulted (sometimes counsel)
• Informed
Service Design Processes
1. Design coordination - Ensuring the consistent design
of Service Management Information
Systems, architectures, and
technologies
- Coordinating design activities
across projects, and managing
schedules, resources, & conflicts
- Producing service design
packages (SDPs) based on service
charters and change requests
- Planning and coordinating
resources and capabilities
Design coordination challenges:
• One of the major challenges is trying to maintain consistent quality
across the Service Design stage, as a result of the work being carried
out by different individuals, such as process owners, managers, and
project managers.
• Another challenge is ensuring that enough time and resources are
allocated to activities and that individuals and groups are assigned
the appropriate responsibilities to complete the job.
• The design coordination process should ensure that there is a balance
in bureaucracy and autonomy.
2. Service catalogue management Accurate and consistent source of data about all operational services
and about all services being transitioned to the live environment,
should contain details of all services that are currently provided and
of services being prepared for transition to the live environment.
The Service Catalog has two aspects:
– Business Service Catalog: contains details of all the IT services
delivered to customers, including the relationships of the services to
business units and details of the business processes that depend on the
services. This is the customer view of the Service Catalog.
– Technical Service Catalog: details relationships to the supporting
services, shared services, elements, and Configuration Items (CIs)
necessary to provide the service to the organization.
Service Catalogue Manager:
The main responsibility is to produce and maintain the Service
Catalog.
The duties of the Service Catalog manager are to ensure that:
- all relevant services are recorded in the Service Catalog
- the information in the Service Catalog is accurate and up-to-date
- the information in the Service Catalog is consistent with that of
the Service Portfolio
- the information in the Service Catalog is protected and backed up
3. Service level management The purpose of Service Level Management (SLM) is to make sure an agreed
level of service is provided and maintained for delivered IT services.
It does this by ensuring agreed and achievable targets are set, and
that operational services and their performance are monitored regularly
throughout an organization.
Basic concepts:
• SLR: Service level
requirements
• SLA: Service level agreement
• OLA: Operational level
agreement
• UC: Underpinning Contract
• UA: Underpinning Agreement
SLM key activities:
• Negotiating: Negotiate SLA´s
based on the SLR´s and develop
a contact with the customer.
• Monitoring: Includes
monitoring service performance
against SLAs.
• Reporting: Produces service
reports and logging and
managing complaints and
compliments.
• Reviewing: Includes reviewing
and revising underpinning
agreements, conducting service
reviews, and instigating.
SLA structures:
• Service-based SLA: covers generic
service requirements for a
particular service and for all
customers that make use of that
service.
• Customer-based SLA: covers
service agreements for all
services that are used by a
particular customer group.
• Multilevel SLA: usually comprises
three levels – corporate,
customer, and service. The
corporate level covers the
generic SLM requirements of every
customer.
4. Availability management • Focuses on ensuring that all operational services meet the agreed
availability targets. It is also responsible for ensuring that new or
changed services are designed in such a way as to meet their intended
targets, without compromising the performance of other services.
Concepts:
• Availability: Refers to the
ability of a service to
fulfill its agreed purpose,
usually measured as a %.
• Reliability: Duration for
which it can perform its
function without interruption.
• Maintainability: How quickly
and effectively the service
returns to normal (MTBF &
MTBSI)
• Serviceability: Ability of a
third-party supplier to meet
the terms and conditions of a
contract.
5. Capacity management Capacity Management is responsible for ensuring that IT processes are
planned and scheduled to provide a consistent level of performance
that aligns with current and future business needs.
Objectives of capacity management:
• ensuring that cost-justifiable IT capacity aligns with agreed business
needs in all areas of IT
• providing a point of focus and management for all capacity and
performance-related issues
• producing and maintaining an appropriate and up-to-date capacity plan
that portrays business needs
A capacity plan
records levels of
utilization of
resources as well as
performance of service
Capacity Management
relies on a delicate
balance of :
– costs against
resource needs
– supply against
demand
Capacity Management Sub-processes:
Capacity Manager Responsibilities:
– identifying capacity requirements with the service level manager
– understanding the existing use of IT infrastructure and services,
as well as the maximum capacity of each component
– performing sizing on all suggested new services and systems to
determine capacity requirements
– predicting future capacity requirements
– ensuring that there is adequate IT capacity to meet required
levels of service
6. IT Service Continuity Management Supports the overall Business Continuity Management (BCM) process by
ensuring that the required IT technical and service facilities can
recommence within required business timescales.
Objectives of ITSCM:
– maintain IT Service Continuity and recovery plans that support
overall Business Continuity Plans (BCPs)
– complete regular Business Impact Analysis (BIA) exercises to
ensure that all continuity plans align with changing business
requirements
– perform regular risk analysis and management exercises,
especially together with the business and the Availability
Management and Security Management processes
– give advice and guidance to other business and IT areas on all
continuity and recovery-related issues
– ensure that appropriate continuity and recovery mechanisms are in
place to meet agreed business continuity targets
IT service continuity manager responsibilities:
– Performing BIAs for all services
– Implementing and maintaining the ITSCM process to ensure that
agreed targets are met
– Ensuring that all ITSCM plans, risks, and activities support and
align with BCM plans, risks, and activities
– Performing risk assessment and management to prevent failures
whenever practical and cost-justifiable
7. Information Security Management It provides strategic direction for security activities and ensures
that all objectives are achieved. It also ensures that information
security risks are managed appropriately and that enterprise
information resources are responsibly used.
The objectives of ISM are:
– Protect the confidentiality of data and systems
– Protect the integrity of information
– Ensure authenticity and nonrepudiation of transactions and
information
Some examples of what the information security policy may include are:
- An overall policy for securing information
- An access control policy
- A password control policy
- An e-mail policy
• The ISMS provides a system for creating
a cost-effective information security
program that aligns with business
objectives.
• The ISMS consists of five main
elements:
– Control
– Plan
– Implement
– Evaluate
– Maintain
Security Manager Responsibilities:
• developing and maintaining the information security policy and
supporting policies
• ensuring appropriate authorization, commitment to, and approval of
policies by senior IT and business management
• communicating and publicizing the information security policy to all
the appropriate areas
8. Supplier Management Aims to ensure that suppliers meet the terms, conditions, and targets
of their contracts and agreements, it's also implemented as a means to
attain a higher value for money from suppliers and the services they
offer
The consistent and effective implementation of Supplier Management
depends on the establishment of a Supplier and Contract Database (SCD),
as well as on clearly defined roles and responsibilities.
A comprehensive SCD provides information in the areas of:
• supplier categorization
• establishment of new suppliers, their assessment, and the
establishment of associated contracts
• contract renewal and termination
• management of supplier and contract performance
Objectives of supplier management and supplier manager responsibilities:
• secure good value for money from suppliers and contracts
• align contracts with suppliers to business needs and targets
• manage relationships with suppliers
• manage supplier performance
• maintain the organization's supplier policy and supporting SCD
Service Transition Stage
It's designed to ensure that
new or modified services meet
the business expectations
documented in the Service
Strategy and Service Design
stages of the lifecycle.
Objectives of service transition:
• plan and manage service changes efficiently and effectively
• manage risks relating to new, changed, or retired services
• successfully deploy service releases into supported environments
• set appropriate expectations about the performance and use of new or
changed IT services
Scope of service transition:
• managing the complexity associated with changes to services and Service
Management processes
• introducing new services or making changes to existing services
• decommissioning and discontinuing services, applications, or service
components when relevant
• transferring services to and from other IT service providers – for
example, due to changes in outsourcing, use of co-sourcing, or company
mergers
Governance:
Ensures that policies and strategy are actually implemented and that
required processes are correctly followed. Governance includes defining roles
and responsibilities, measuring and reporting, and taking actions to resolve
any issues identified.
Retaliation:
Steps taken to recover after a failed change.
Service Transition Processes
1. Transition planning and support The purpose of the transition planning and support process is to
provide overall planning for Service Transition processes and to
coordinate the resources that they require.
Objectives:
• coordinate resources
• coordinate activities
• establish new or changed IT
services
• establish new systems and tools
• ensure the adoption of a common
framework
• provide clear plans
• manage risks
Scope:
• maintaining policies
• guiding changes
• coordinating activities
• planning resource requirements
• reviewing planning and support
activities
2. Change Management Change Management is the process in the Service Transition stage that's
responsible for controlling the lifecycle of all changes to IT
services. Its primary purpose is to ensure that only beneficial changes
are made and that these result in minimal disruption.
Objectives:
• Maximize value
• Align services
• Control and document changes
• Optimize risk
Informational documents
Change proposals
– Communicates a high-
level description of
the proposed change,
including business
outcomes to be
supported, and
utility and warranty
to be provided.
– (before chartering
new or changed IT
services)
RFCs
– An RFC is a formal
and documented –
either written or
electronic – proposal
for a change to be
made.
– It includes details
of the proposed
change.
– The term RFC is often
misused to mean a
change record, or the
change itself.
Change records
– It documents the
lifecycle of a single
change.
– A change record is
created for every
RFC, including those
that are subsequently
rejected.
– A change record
should reference the
CIs affected by the
proposed change.
– Change records may be
stored in the CMS
Types of changes
Standard
• Pre-approved change
• A defined trigger
initiates a standard
change
• A standardized
procedure should
exist for
implementing the
change, which occurs
commonly or is
expected.
• Typically involve low
risks and costs, and
low levels of effort
to implement.
Emergency
• Has to be implemented
ASAP.
• Should be designed
carefully and tested
as much as possible
before they're
implemented.
• Details of emergency
changes may also be
documented
retrospectively.
Normal
• Any service change
that isn't a standard
or emergency change.
• Needs to follow the
entire approval
process.
Emergency change lifecycle
• Number of emergency changes
should be minimum
• Only to repair errors in IT
services with significant,
negative impact.
Emergency change lifecycle
differences
• Authorization: ECAB instead
of regular CAB, according
to organization´s
procedures
• Testing: tested as much as
possible before use, when
only limited test is
possible, focus on the
aspects to be used shortly
• Change review: If change
fails, iterative attempts
at fixes may be
necessary(business needs
remain first)
• Documentation: Build
temporary records while in
the change in order to
complete the full
documentation (change
record) after the
completion
Normal change lifecycle
3. Service Asset and configuration management Ensures that the assets required to deliver IT services are properly
controlled, and that accurate and reliable information about those
assets is available when and where it's needed, this information
includes details of how the assets have been configured and the
relationships between assets.
Configuration item (CI):
• A CI is a service asset that has to be managed to deliver an IT
service.
• All CIs are service assets, although service assets aren't all CIs.
Objectives:
• Ensure assets are identified,
controlled, cared for.
• maintaining an accurate and
complete Configuration
Management System (CMS)
• identify, control, record,
report, audit, and verify
services and other CIs,
including versions, baselines,
constituent components, and
service attributes and
relationships
Scope:
• Management of the complete
lifecycle of every CI.
• Ensuring releases into
controlled environments and
operational use are formally
authorized.
• Provides a configuration model
of services and service assets
by recording the relationships
between CIs.
4. Release and deployment management The scope of Release and Deployment Management includes the processes,
systems, and functions required to package, build, test, and deploy
releases into live environments. It helps to ensure that these
activities deliver the newly required functionality without endangering
the quality and integrity of existing services.
Key Objectives:
• Define and sign off Release and Deployment Management plans with
stakeholders
• Create and test packages
Important notes:
• The scope of the Release and Deployment Management process also
includes all CIs
• Release and Deployment Management ensures that appropriate testing
takes place, but the actual testing is conducted by the service
validation and testing process.
• Release and Deployment Management isn't responsible for authorizing
changes. It requires authorization from Change Management at various
stages in the lifecycle of a release.
Release and deployment phases
Release and deployment planning:
• Starts with Change Management
authorization to plan a release,
and ends with Change Management
authorization to create the
release.
• Develop build plans, design
specifications, and environment
configuration requirements.
• Establishes release logistics and
schedules, defines a configuration
baseline for the build environment,
tests the build and related
procedures, and assigns resources,
roles, and responsibilities for
performing key activities.
Release build and test:
• Starts with Change Management
authorization to build a release
and ends with Change Management
authorization for the base lined
release package added into the DML.
• Release package is built, tested,
and checked.
• Manage the build and test
environments.
• You also need to manage and
document build and test activities,
Deployment:
• Starts with Change Management
authorization to deploy a release
package to one or more target
environments. It ends with handover
to the Service Operation functions
and early-life support.
• Develop a detailed implementation
plan, including details of who is
responsible for each aspect of
implementation.
• Deployments (Push, Pull and Big
Bang).
Review and close:
• Capture experiences and feedback
about customer, user, and service
provider satisfaction.
• Check that any problems, known
errors, and workarounds are
documented and accepted by the
affected stakeholders.
• Ensure aren´t any remaining issues
to address.
• Experience and feedback are
captured, performance targets and
achievements are reviewed, and
lessons are learned.
5. Service Validation and testing Provides quality assurance within the Service Transition domain, it
verifies that a new or changed IT service is fit for purpose and fit
for use. Last process in Service Transition. Once this process
completes, the IT service is moved into a live environment.
Objectives:
• Quality assurance
• Fit for purpose?
• Fit for use?
• Customer requirements defined?
• Structured validation and testing process?
• Errors and risks?
6. Change Evaluation Provide a consistent and standardized means of determining the
performance – or value – of a proposed IT service change, to facilitate
a decision about whether to authorize the change by identifying and
assessing the likely impacts of a proposed change on business outcomes,
and on existing and proposed services and IT infrastructure.
Every change must be authorized by a suitable change authority at
various points in its lifecycle – and change evaluation supports
decisions at each of these points.
Objectives:
• set stakeholder expectations
• evaluate the effects of a proposed change
• provide high-quality outputs
7. Knowledge management The Knowledge Management process involves sharing perspectives, data,
ideas, experience, and information, and ensuring that these are
available in the right place and at the right time. This enables
informed decisions, and improves efficiency by reducing the need to
rediscover knowledge.
Objectives:
• Improve decision-making
• Reduce need to rediscover knowledge
• Ensure common understanding
• Maintain knowledge
• Gather, analyze, store, share, use, maintain data
SKMS: set of tools and databases used to manage knowledge, information, and data, with the aim of improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of
all stages of the Service Lifecycle.
DIKW
Data � Information �
Knowledge � Wisdom
Service Operation Stage
The purpose of the Service Operation stage is to coordinate and carry
out the activities and processes required to deliver and manage
services at agreed levels to business users and customers. This stage
is also responsible for ensuring that the necessary technology is
managed properly to support this service delivery.
Goals:
• deliver IT services and support
of these services effectively
and efficiently
• ensure IT services are provided
only to those authorized to
receive the service, and
• reduce the impact of service
outages in daily operations
Responsibilities:
• Executing and performing
processes to optimize the cost
and quality of services within
the Lifecycle.
• Provide the business with
capacity to meet its objectives.
• The technology used to deliver
and support service
• The overall functioning of the
business itself
Service operation functions
• The service desk is the
primary point of contact for
users when there is a service
disruption, for service
requests, or even for some
categories of Requests for
Change (RFC).
• Technical Management provides
detailed technical skills and
resources needed to support
the ongoing operation of the
IT Infrastructure.
• IT Operations Management
responsible for the daily
operational activities needed
to manage the IT
Infrastructure. IT operations
control ensures that routine
operational tasks are carried
out. Facilities Management
refers to the management of
the physical IT environment –
usually data centers or
computer rooms.
• Application Management is
responsible for managing
applications throughout their
lifecycle.
Service desk
The primary aim of the service desk is to restore service to normal for
users as quickly as possible. Restoring service to normal for users is meant in the widest possible sense. While this could involve fixing a
technical fault, it could equally involve fulfilling a service request
or answering a query.
Organizational structures
• Local: is located within or close to the user community it serves.
• Centralized: has staff located in one or more centralized service desk
structures.
• Virtual Service desk: Using technology such as the Internet and
corporate support tools, it is possible to give the impression of a
single, centralized service desk when in fact; personnel are located
across any number or type of geographical or structural locations.
• Follow-the-sun service desk: Some global or international organizations
may combine two or more of their geographically dispersed service desks
to provide a 24-hour follow-the-sun service desk.
• Specialist service desk group: Staff specially trained for specific
technologies.
Technical management
Roles:
• Holds technical knowledge and expertise
• Responsible for ensuring that there is sufficient knowledge and
expertise available to design, test, manage, and improve IT services.
• Provides technical resources to support the IT Service Management
(ITSM) Lifecycle
• Appropriate deployment of resources to ensure that the technology used
to deliver and support IT services is designed, built, operated, and
improved effectively.
Technical Management ensures that an organization can access the appropriate
human resources to manage the technology required to support business
objectives. An important aspect of carrying out this role effectively is the
ability to balance the skill levels available, the use of resources, and the
cost of these resources.
IT operations management
IT Operations Management is the function responsible for the ongoing
maintenance and management of organizations' IT infrastructure. It is defined
by the daily activities needed to ensure that the infrastructure operates
optimally.
Operations management sub-functions
Operations control
• oversees the execution and
monitoring of the activities and
events in the IT infrastructure
• executing routine tasks
• managing consoles
• job scheduling
• performing backups and restores
• performing maintenance activities
Facilities management
• Management of the physical IT
environment. This includes
data centers and computer
rooms, as well as necessary
power and cooling equipment.
Application Management
Roles:
• Holds technical knowledge and expertise
• Responsible for ensuring that there is sufficient knowledge and expertise
available to design, test, manage, and improve IT services.
• Ensures that application staff is trained and that sufficient resources
are deployed throughout the ITSM Lifecycle.
• Guidance to IT service operation about how to manage applications
effectively.
• Integrating the Application Management Lifecycle with each stage of the
ITSM
Service Operation Processes
1. Event Management An event is any change of state that has significance for the
management of a Configuration Item (CI) or IT service. Associated
activities include detecting events, making sense of them, and
determining and coordinating the appropriate control actions.
Elements that can be monitored by events:
• CI
• Environmental Conditions
• Software Licensing
• Security
• Normal IT activity
Categories of events
Informational: This
refers to an event that
does not require any
action and does not
represent an exception.
Warning: A warning is an
event that is generated
when a service or device
is approaching a
threshold.
Exception: service or
device is currently
operating abnormally
(however that has been
defined).
2. Incident management An incident is defined as an unplanned interruption in, or reduction
of, the quality of an IT service. An incident can also include a
Configuration Item (CI) failure, if service is interrupted.
Purpose:
• Ensure that IT services are provided at the levels agreed to in a
Service Level Agreement (SLA).
• The focus is on maintaining or restoring service in the event of an
incident, and on minimizing the negative effects of any interruptions
on customers, users, and business operations.
Principles:
• Setting timescales for incident response
• Creating incident models
• Planning special responses to major incidents
• Tracking incident status
• Dividing the incident lifecycle into clear stages
3. Request Fulfillment A service request is any request or demand that a user makes to an IT
organization. Many of these requests are for common or minor actions
involving low risk and low costs, or for simple information.
Request Fulfillment plays an important role in maintaining end user
satisfaction by ensuring that users' requests are satisfied as promptly and
efficiently as possible. This prevents minor requests from congesting the
normal Incident Management and Change Management processes, and negatively
impacting overall service delivery.
Objectives:
• provide a channel for users to request and receive standard services
for which a predefined authorization and qualification process exists
• source and deliver the components of requested standard services
• assist users by providing general information and handling complaints
4. Access management Is the process of granting specific authorized users the rights to use
services, while also preventing unauthorized users from gaining access.
It involves executing the policies and actions defined through
Information Security Management.
5. Problem management Problems: A problem is an actual or potential cause of incidents
Problem Management activities focus on finding ways to prevent
incidents from occurring.
• Problem
a. The unknown cause of one or more incidents
b. Reactive and proactive (how problem management process is
triggered)
• Problem Models: Step by step instructions to fix a problem.
• Workaround: step by step procedure to reestablish the service without
fixing the main problem.
• Known Error: A problem that has an entry in the KEDB, might have a
documented root cause or a workaround. Known errors are created and
managed throughout their lifecycle by problem management. Known errors
may also be identified by development or suppliers.
• Known Error Database: A database containing all known error records.
This database is created by problem management and used by incident
and problem management.
Continual Service Improvement Stage
Throughout the CSI stage, the performance of an IT service provider is
continually measured and improvements are made to processes, IT services, and
IT infrastructure where necessary. This can result in improved IT service
quality, operational efficiency, and better cost efficiency.
CSI supporting activities:
• Reviewing management information and trends to ensure that IT services
are meeting the agreed service levels and that the output of the
enabling processes are achieving the desired results
• Conducting maturity assessments to demonstrate areas for improvement,
as well as areas of concern
• Conducting internal audits to verify employee and process compliance
• Reviewing existing deliverables for appropriateness
• Proposing recommendations for improvement opportunities
• Conducting customer satisfaction surveys
• Reviewing business trends and changed priorities to keep ahead of
business projections
• Conducting external and internal service reviews to identify CSI
opportunities
• Measuring and identifying the value created by CSI improvements
CSI register
A CSI register is a database or structured document used to record and
manage improvement opportunities throughout their lifecycles.
• Should be part of SKMS
• Should be properly updated and maintained.
• For each recorded improvement initiative, suitable Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs) should also be identified in the CSI register.
• Define the interface between the CSI register and other processes in
the Service Lifecycle.
CSI Register fields
• Opportunity number
• Date raised
• Size : scale of a
needed improvement or
initiative, based on
how much work and
effort it will
require
• Timescale: estimated
time it will take to
complete an
improvement or
initiative.
• Description
• Priority field
• KPI metric field
should list one or
more appropriate KPIs
for measuring the
success of each
improvement
initiative.
• Justification field
for explaining the
choice of a
particular KPI metric
• Raised by
• To be actioned by
• Date required by
Deming cycle (PDCA)
• Plan: identifying the vision,
business need, and
operational and strategic
goals driving the need for
improvements.
• Do: involves collecting raw
data from service operations
and then processing this
data.
• Check: involves analyzing the
prepared data to reveal
business trends and the
success or failure of the
strategy determined in the
Plan step.
• Act: involves taking action
based on the results of data
analysis.
Seven-step improvement process
Types of metrics collected
Technology metrics: Technology metrics are often associated with component
and application-based metrics such as performance and availability
Process metrics: Process metrics are captured in the form of Critical Success
Factors (CSFs), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and activity metrics for
the Service Management processes.
Service metrics: measure the overall effectiveness or output of an end-to-end
IT service, including both its technological and human elements.
CSI flow