Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)

INTRODUCTION

  • Consistent and comprehensive documentation of best practice for IT Service Management
  • Common vocabulary, a glossary of widely agreed terms
  • Developed by Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA)
    • Now Office of Government Commerce (OGC)
  • In 1980s
  • Last updated in 2000

ITIL SETS

  • IT Service Management (ITSM) - Most popular
    • Service Delivery
    • Service Support
  • Operational Guidance
    • Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Infrastructe Management
    • Security Management
    • The Business Perspective
    • Application Management
    • Software Asset Management
  • Implementation
    • Planning to Implement Service Management
  • For smaller IT units
    • ITIL Small-Scale Implementation

SOME TERMS

  • IT Service Management
    • A top-down, business driven approach to the management of IT that specifically addresses the strategic business value generated by the IT organisation and the need to deliver a high quality IT service
  • Incident
    • Any event which is not part of the standard operation of a service and which causes, or may cause, an interruption to, or a reduction in, the quality of that service.
    • The stated ITIL objective is to restore normal operations as quickly as possible with the least possible impact on either the business or the user, at a cost-effective price
  • Problem
    • An unknown underlying cause for one or more incidents
    • Becomes a “known error” once the root cause is identified
  • Service Desk
    • Single-point contact for the customers to record problems
    • Manage life-cycle of service requests
    • Includes call center, help desk, service desk
  • Ishikawa Diagram
    • Also known as fishbone/cause-and-effect/tree diagram
    • Identifying & representing root cause of problems
  • Configuration Item
    • A unit of configuration that can be individually managed and versioned
  • Change
    • An event that results in a new status of one or more configuration items
  • Request For Change (RFC)
    • Form used to record details of a request for a change and is sent as an input to Change Management by the Change Requestor
  • Forward Schedule of Changes (FSC)
    • Schedule that contains details of all the forthcoming Changes
  • Change Advisory Board (CAB)
    • Decision authority for change management

SERVICE SUPPORT

  • Incident Management
    • Incident detection and recording
    • Classification and initial support
    • Investigation and diagnosis
    • Resolution and recovery
    • Incident closure
    • Incident ownership, monitoring, tracking and communication
  • Problem Management
    • Find & resolve the root cause of problems
    • Prevention of incidents
      • Trend analysis
    • Problem Control Process
      • Problem identification & recording
      • Problem classification
      • Problem investigation & diagnosis
  • Configuration Management
    • Planning
      • Strategy, Policy, Scope, Objectives, Roles & Responsibilities
    • Identification
      • Selection & Identification of Configuration Items (CI)
      • Ownership, Relationship, Versions of CIs
    • Control
      • Authorization
      • Documentation
    • Status Accounting
      • Reporting of status through the lifecycle of CI
    • Verification & Audit
      • Physical existence & correctness of CI
  • Change Management
    • To ensure minimal disruption during a change
    • Economic utilization of resources involved in a change
  • Release Management
    • Plan to rollout of software
    • Design and implement procedures for the distribution and installation of changes to IT systems
    • Communicate and manage expectations of the customer during the planning and rollout of new releases
    • Control the distribution and installation of changes to IT systems
  • Quality Management

SERVICE DELIVERY

  • Service Level Management
    • Ensuring the delivery of IT services in time/place
    • Producing & Maintaining a Service Catalog
    • Meeting required levels & quality of service within resources agreed
    • Establish & monitor service level metrics
  • Capacity Management
    • Application Sizing
    • Workload Management
    • Demand Management
    • Modeling
    • Capacity Planning
    • Resource Management
    • Performance Management
  • IT Service Continuity Management
    • Risk Analysis
    • Contingency Plan Management
    • Contingency Plan Testing
    • Risk Management
  • Availability Management
    • Realize Availability Requirements
    • Compile Availability Plan
    • Monitor Availability
    • Monitor Maintenance Obligations.
  • Financial Management
    • To provide cost-effective stewardship of the IT assets and resources used in providing IT services
    • Processes
    • Budgeting
    • IT Accounting
    • Charging

PLANNING TO IMPLEMENT SERVICE MANAGEMENT

  • Continuous Service Improvement Programme (CSIP)
    • Create Vision
    • Analyze Organization
    • Set Goals
    • Implement IT Service Management
    • Measure Progress - Using Key Performance Indicators (Kpi)

SECURITY MANAGEMENT

  • Information Security
    • Primary Aspects
      • Confidentiality
      • Integrity
      • Availability
    • Inferred Aspects
      • Privacy
      • Anonymity
      • Verifiability
    • Analysing Risks & Vulnerabilities

ICT INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT

  • ICT Design and Planning
  • ICT Deployment
  • ICT Operations
  • ICT Technical Support

THE BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE

  • To address issues encountered in understanding and improving IT service provision, as a part of the entire business requirement
    • Business Continuity Management
    • Surviving Change
    • Transformation of business practice through radical change
    • Partnerships and outsourcing

APPLICATION MANAGEMENT

  • To improve the overall quality of IT software development and support
  • Through the life-cycle of software development projects
  • Particular attention to gathering and defining requirements that meet business objectives

SOFTWARE ASSET MANAGEMENT

  • All of the infrastructure and processes necessary for the effective management, control and protection of the software assets within an organisation, throughout all stages of their lifecycle
  • Process
    • Preparation (Workshop)
    • Getting there (Review)
    • Staying there (Implementation)
    • Proving that you are staying there (Health check)

REFERENCES

15 March 2007