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ITIL Processes and IT Service Management
Developed in the late 1980's, the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) has become the worldwide de facto standard in service management.
Starting as a guide for UK Government, the framework has proved to be useful to organisations in all sectors through its adoption by many service management companies as the basis for consulting, education and software tools support.
The IT Infrastructure Library documents industry best practice guidance. It has proved its value from the very beginning. Initially, the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) collected information on how various organisations addressed Service Management, analysed this and filtered those issues that would prove useful to CCTA and to its Customers in UK Central Government. Other organisations found that the guidance was generally applicable and markets outside of Government were very soon targeted by the service industry.
Being a framework, ITIL describes the contours of organising Service Management. The models show the goals, general activities, inputs and outputs of the various processes, which can be incorporated within IT organisations. ITIL focuses on best practice that can be utilised in different ways according to the need.
Thanks to this framework of proven best practices, the IT Infrastructure Library can be used within organisations with existing methods and activities in Service Management. By emphasising the relationships between the processes, any lack of communication and co-operation between various IT functions can be eliminated or minimised.
ITIL provides a proven method for planning common processes, roles and activities with appropriate reference to each other and how the communication lines should exist between them.
Generic benefits include:
- Improved quality service provision;
- Cost justifiable service quality;
- Services that meet Business, Customer and User demands;
- Integrated centralised processes;
- Individual roles and responsibilities in service provision;
- Learning from previous experience;
- Demonstrable performance indicators.
Integrated service delivery refers to the need for Configuration Management, Change Management, Incident Management, Problem Management and Release Management processes that are linked together in a meaningful manner. For example, the process of releasing components to the live environment (the domain of Release Management) is also an issue for Configuration Management and Change Management whilst the Service Desk is primarily responsible for liaison between IT providers and the Users of services. This section highlights the links and the principal relationships between all the Service Management and other infrastructure management processes.
These processes fall under the Operational and Tactical Layer as given in the table. They are as follows:
Operational Layer
1. Configuration Management
2. Service Desk Management
3. Incident & Problem Management
4. Change Management
5. Release Management
Tactical Layer
6. Service Level Management
7. Availability Management
8. Capacity Management
9. Continuity Management
10. Financial Management
Configuration Management
Configuration Management is an integral part of all other Service Management processes.
With current, accurate and comprehensive information about all components in the infrastructure the management of Change, in particular,
is more effective and efficient.
Change Management can be integrated with Configuration Management.
As a minimum it is recommended that the logging and implementation of Changes be done under the control of a comprehensive Configuration Management system and that the impact assessment of Changes is done with the aid of the Configuration Management system. All Change requests should therefore be entered in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) and the records updated as the Change request progresses through to implementation.
The Configuration Management system identifies relationships between an item that is to be changed and any other components of the infrastructure, thus allowing the owners of these components to be involved in the impact assessment process. Whenever a Change is made to the infrastructure, associated Configuration Management records should be updated in the CMDB. Where possible, this is best accomplished by use of integrated tools that update records automatically as Changes are made.
The CMDB should be made available to the entire Service Support group so that Incidents and Problems can be resolved more easily by understanding the possible cause of the failing component. The CMDB should also be used to link the Incident and Problem records to other appropriate records such as the failing Configuration Item (CI) and the User. Release Management will be difficult and error prone without the integration of the Configuration Management process.
The Service Delivery processes also rely on the CMDB data. For example:
- Service Level Management needs to identify components that combine together to deliver the service so that underpinning agreements can be set up
- Financial Management for IT needs to know the components utilised by each business unit especially when charging is in place
- IT Service Continuity and Availability Management need to identify components to perform risk analysis and component failure impact analysis.
Service Desk Management
The Service Desk is the single point of contact between service providers and Users, on a day-to-day basis. It is also a focal point for reporting Incidents and making service requests. As such, the Service Desk has an obligation to keep Users informed of service events, actions and opportunities that are likely to impact their ability to pursue their day-to-day activities. For example, the Service Desk might act as the focal point for Change Requests from Users, issuing Change Schedules on behalf of Change Management, and keeping Users informed of progress on Changes. Change Management should therefore ensure that the Service Desk is kept constantly aware of Change activities.
The Service Desk is in the direct firing line of any impact on the SLAs and as such needs rapid information flows.
The Service Desk may be given delegation to implement Changes to circumvent Incidents within its sphere of authority. The scope of such Changes should be predefined and the Change Management function should be informed about all such Changes. Prior approval of Change Management is essential before Changes of specification of any CI are implemented.
Incident and Problem Management
There should be a close interface between the Incident Management process and the Problem Management and Change management processes as well as the function of Service Desk. If not properly controlled, Changes may introduce new Incidents. A way of tracking back is required. It is therefore recommended that the incident records should be held on the same CMDB as the Problem, Known Error and Change records, or at least linked without the need for re-keying, to improve the interfaces and easy interrogation and reporting.
Incident priorities and escalation procedures need to be agreed as part of the Service level Management process and documented in the SLAs.
The Problem Management process requires the accurate and comprehensive recording of Incidents in order to identify and efficiently the cause of the Incidents and trends. Problem Management also needs to liaise closely with the Availability Management process to identify these trends and instigate remedial action.
Change Management
The Change management process depends on the accuracy of the configuration data to ensure the full impact of making Changes is known. There si therefore a very close relationship between Configuration Management, Release Management and Change Management.
Details of the Change process are documented in SLAs to ensure that Users know the procedure for requesting Changes and the projected target times for, and impact of the implementation of Changes.
Details of Changes need to be made known to the Service Desk. Even with comprehensive testing there is an increased likelihood of difficulties occurring following Change implementation either because the Change is not working as required or expected, or because of queries on the Change in functionality.
The Change Advisory Board (CAB) is a group of people who can give expert advise to the Change Management team on the implementation of Changes. This board is likely to be made up of representatives from all areas within IT and representatives from business units.
Release Management
Changes may often result in the need for new hardware, new versions of software, and/or new documentation, created in-house or bought in, to be controlled and distributed, as part of a new 'packaged Release'.
The procedures for achieving secure, managed rollout should be closely integrated with those for Change Management and Configuration Management. Release procedures may also be an integral part of Incident Management and Problem Management, as well as being closely linked to CMDB in order to maintain up-to-date records.
Service Desk Management
The Service Desk is the single point of contact between service providers and Users, on a day-to-day basis. It is also a focal point for reporting Incidents and making service requests. As such, the Service Desk has an obligation to keep Users informed of service events, actions and opportunities that are likely to impact their ability to pursue their day-to-day activities. For example, the Service Desk might act as the focal point for Change Requests from Users, issuing Change Schedules on behalf of Change Management, and keeping Users informed of progress on Changes. Change Management should therefore ensure that the Service Desk is kept constantly aware of Change activities.
The Service Desk is in the direct firing line of any impact on the SLAs and as such needs rapid information flows.
The Service Desk may be given delegation to implement Changes to circumvent Incidents within its sphere of authority. The scope of such Changes should be predefined and the Change Management function should be informed about all such Changes. Prior approval of Change Management is essential before Changes of specification of any CI are implemented.
Availability Management
Availability Management is concerned with design, implementation, measurement and management of IT services to ensure the stated business requirements for availability are consistently met. Availability Management requires an understanding of the reasons why IT service failures occur and the time taken to resume service. Incident Management and Problem Management provide a key input to ensure the appropriate corrective actions are being progressed.
The measurements and reporting of IT availability ensures that the level of availability delivered meets the SLA. Availability Management supports the Service Level Management process in providing measurements and reporting to support service reviews.
Capacity Management
Capacity Management is directly related to the business requirements and is not simply about the performance of the system's components, individually or collectively.
Capacity Management is involved in Incident resolution and Problem Identification for those difficulties relating to capacity issues.
Capacity Management activities raise Requests for Change (RFCs) to ensure the appropriate capacity is available. These RFCs are subject to the Change Management process, and implementation may affect several CIs, including hardware, software and documentation, requiring effective Release management.
Capacity Management should be involved in evaluating all Changes, to establish the effect on capacity and performance. This should occur both when changes are proposed after they are implemented. Capacity Management should pay regular attention to the cumulative effect of Changes over a period of time. The negligible effect of single Changes can often combine to cause degraded response times, file storage problems, and excess demand for processing capacity.
Continuity Management
IT service Continuity Management is concerned with managing an organization's ability to continue to provide a pre-determined and agreed level of IT Services to support the minimum business requirements following an interruption to the business. Effective IT Service Continuity requires a balance of risk reduction measures such as resilient systems and recovery options including back-up facilities. Configuration Management data is required to facilitate this prevention and planning. Infrastructure and business Changes need to be assessed for their potential impact on the continuity plans, and the IT and business plans should be subject to Change Management procedures. The Service Desk has an important role to play if business continuity is invokes.
Financial Management
Financial Management is responsible for accounting for the costs of providing IT service and for any aspects of recovering these costs from the Customers (charging). It requires good interfaces with Capacity Management, Configuration Management (asset data) and Service Level Management to identify the costs of service.
The Financial Manager is likely to work closely with the Customer Relationship Manager and the IT Directorate during the negotiations of the IT department and individual Customer's IT spend.
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