What is ITIL and why you should be interested in it

Transcription

1 Cnsulting What is ITIL and why yu shuld be interested in it The IT Infrastructure Library explained Authred by Alan Pickering, Tech Partners Cnsulting September, 2003 Intrductin Mst rganisatins that use Infrmatin Technlgy d s t supprt their business prcesses. They may use applicatin systems, running n servers and cnnectins via netwrks t allw their persnnel t cmmunicate internally and with custmers; t achieve sales; t fulfill rders fr gds and services; and t allw the billing cycle t be cmpleted, thus bringing in the revenue. Even nt fr prfit rganisatins, may use technlgy fr vice cmmunicatins; a presence n the web; r internal upn which wrk prcesses can be built. The IT Infrastructure Library (r ITIL) is a set f bks which describe sme very sensible prcesses, used by a grwing number f rganisatins t better manage their IT Infrastructure assets and services. ITIL is the published bdy f knwledge abut prcesses fr IT Service Delivery and IT Service Supprt, which in ttal make up an IT Service Framewrk (ITSM). This white paper will prvide a brief intrductin t ITIL, and will explain why an increasing number f rganisatins, including custmers and vendrs are nw researching, underging training and implementing ITIL. Backgrund The rigins f ITSM and ITIL are in the UK in the early1990 s, when the British Gvernment recgnized a need fr a cnsistent apprach t manage services frm utsurced prviders. Fllwing an extensive search which shwed that n cmplete set f prcesses was available, they undertk t create a series f guidelines and the IT Infrastructure Library was brn. In the fllwing years, interest in ITIL grew with widespread usage including many cuntries in Eurpe and arund the glbe. ITIL - the Prcesses The prcesses described in the ITIL reference bks are gruped int tw sets. The Service Delivery Set describes the Tactical prcesses, whilst the Service Supprt Set describes the Operatinal prcesses. The prcesses within the sets are as fllws: Cpyright Tech Partners Cnsulting Perth, 2003.

2 Cnsulting Service Delivery Set Capacity Recrds Capacity Plan Availability Plan Availability Cntinuity Plan IT Service Cntinuity Security Security Plan SLA s Service Catalgue Budget Financial Service Level Capacity Infrastructure Team Services Cnfiguratin Release Standards & SOE Custmers Change Service Desk Functin Incident Prblem Service Supprt Set Incident Recrds Prblem Recrds Change Lg Cnfiguratin Data Base Cpyright Tech Partners Cnsulting Perth, 2003.

3 Cnsulting Service Level Financial Service Delivery Set The prcess f interactin between IT teams the business units, and external prviders, regarding services. This invlves discussing, agreeing and recrding the desired services. The prcess f sundly managing the csts f IT, thrugh Budgeting, IT Accunting and pssibly Charging. IT Service Cntinuity Capacity Availability The prcess f assessing and planning the IT infrastructure, s that it prvides an agreed level f service in the event f a serius utage. The prcess f planning, mnitring and managing the available capacity, s that service levels are met ecnmically and in the required timeframe. The prcess f designing the ICT infrastructure s that availability levels are maintained t agreed rutine levels. Security The prcess f planning, auditing and reviewing activities relating t security prvisins, precautins and pssible threats. Service Desk functin Incident Service Supprt Set The functin f prviding the prime pint f peratinal cntact between the IT team and the users. (Nte Service Desk is a functin, nt a prcess) The prcess f restring nrmal wrking service(s) as sn as pssible. Prblem The prcess f reslving and crrecting any underlying faults and defects in the ICT infrastructure and services. Change Cnfiguratin Release The prcess f ensuring changes are cnsistently prcessed, recrded, assessed and apprved s that any ptential risk t the business frm changes is minimized. The prcess f defining and administering ICT asset and service recrds, accurately, thus prviding infrmatin t underpin service prvisin and decisin making. The prcess f specifying release versins, standards and methds s that assets and service are cnsistently deplyed. Cpyright Tech Partners Cnsulting Perth, 2003.

4 Cnsulting What is ITIL used fr? The ITIL prcesses can be used by rganisatin as a guide when they review their wn IT practices and design new prcesses. T illustrate the use f the ITIL prcesses, the fllwing examples are given: Case A A business unit within an rganisatin seeks t intrduce a new system and begins t talk with the IT team abut the csts and time it will take. IT is able t assess this as an early request fr change and can check the existing capacity plan t see if the required capacity is available n the servers and netwrk. IT can advise the business that capacity is available, and als the likely csts fr future data strage. The IT Team will need t incrprate the change in the IT Service Cntinuity and Availability plans. Additinally the timing fr the prject will need t be cnsidered amngst ther already apprved changes. The prcesses invlved are Service Level, Change, Capacity, Financial, IT Service Cntinuity and Availability. Case B Sme recently intrduced laptp cmputers are prving t be unreliable. The IT team is able t examine the issue reprts frm users, wh have sught assistance frm the service desk, since all calls are lgged and categrized. IT can see that a large number f incidents have been reslved quickly when the service desk team have advised users f a preferred setting fr the screensaver and pwer management parameters. Hwever there is still a trend fr sme f the cmputers t ccasinally lck up, and IT are able t crss-check the service recrds with the hardware and sftware asset recrds in the cnfiguratin management database. By ding this they can see a much higher incidence rate amngst a secnd batch f cmputers, which are slightly different. This can then be raised with the vendr t find ut what can be dne t reslve the issue. The prcesses invlved are Incident, Prblem, Cnfiguratin, Service Level and Release. The Service Desk Functin plays a key rle in this case. Case C The majr upgrade f a desktp perating system is planned t enable the use f brwser based cmputing. IT is planning t establish a standard perating envirnment fr the desktp cmputers. The IT team uses data in the cnfiguratin management database t ascertain user quantities in varius lcatins and the speed f data netwrk links. Frm this infrmatin they can wrk ut the lgistics f hw t set up, deliver and autmate the upgrade sftware package fr each desktp. The package f sftware is released as a cntrlled versin during trials, t a pilt grup, s that the prcedure can be prven ahead f the main deplyment. The prcesses invlved are Release, Cnfiguratin and Capacity. Nte: As can be seen thrugh these examples, the ITIL prcesses allw fr interactin and the sharing f data between prcesses. They perate as a set f prcesses. Cpyright Tech Partners Cnsulting Perth, 2003.

5 Cnsulting Benefits The ITIL prcesses may prvide the fllwing benefits: Mre cnsistent IT Services fr an rganisatin; A means f interacting with custmers n peratinal and tactical levels; A means f maintaining infrmatin abut services, assets and users; frm which services can be measured and managed; A cmmn set f prcesses and language amngst the IT Team; The ability t intrduce prcesses independent f the rganisatin structure; Public dmain methdlgy, which is available withut license fees; Ecnmic access t training and reference bks; A up t date methd, maintained by the parent rganisatin and the increasing base f users, as a recgnized best practice resurce; Opprtunities fr staff t be trained in skills, which enhance their career paths; and A methdlgy which is supprted by netwrk management tls and prducts frm industry. Csts and Issues The csts assciated with implementing ITIL may include: Peple t manage the prcesses, as well as the effrt fr the implementatin; Assets such as netwrk management tls; Sftware such as thse fr recrds systems; Hardware such as thse fr prcessing and strage capacity fr databases; Educatin f peple thrugh training and familiarizatin; and Prcesses, including the time t implement and cntinuusly imprve them. Organisatins will gain the mst benefits when ITIL is implemented as a cllective set f prcesses. Clearly this is als the mst cmplex and cst incurring ptin and sme rganisatins may nt have the resurces t implement the cmplete set, as well as cnduct their nrmal business activities. Sme rganisatins chse t implement ITIL partially with nly sme prcesses, r gradually ver time accrding t their needs and capabilities. It may als be prudent t establish measures as part f any implementatin t demnstrate the benefits gained and thereby validate the business case and the management supprt that has been prvided. Cpyright Tech Partners Cnsulting Perth, 2003.

6 Cnsulting Steps The IT Service Framewrk als recmmends an apprach fr the Implementatin f the ITIL. The steps fr this are as fllws: 1. Feasibility Study t understand the maturity f current practices, the business requirements and t gauge the required resurces; 2. Awareness Campaign the prvisin and cmmunicatin f infrmatin, and the pprtunity t discver ptential issues and cncerns; 3. Plan the implementatin plan, including the design f the prcesses; 4. Implementatin the intrductin f the selected prcesses; and 5. Onging the nging peratin, using a service imprvement philsphy, where needed. Challenges In mst rganisatins the IT teams are service riented, which means that there is a high reliance n peple, t achieve the delivery f service t custmers. The skills, culture and attitude f the peple within the IT Team can affect the services experienced by custmers. Cnsequently the human aspects f any change are imprtant t maintain a psitive spirit. IT Teams are recmmended t treat this as an rganisatinal change management exercise, requiring management participatin, cmmitment and supprt fr training, staff participatin and reinfrcement f early wins. IT Service itself is based upn prcesses, prcess change and service imprvement. The rganisatin shuld be mindful f the culture and patience f the IT team and the brader parent rganisatin, regarding the supprt fr the intrductin f prcesses. The effrt required t intrduce prcesses, varies significantly between rganisatins and a degree f custmizatin f ITIL, t suit the rganisatin, may be required. Supprt Frtunately, supprt is available t assist rganisatins in the ITIL jurney. There are a number f rganisatins which ffer services such as training, educatin, cnsulting assistance and dcumentatin. Additinally, a number f the mainstream vendrs nw ffer ITIL cmpliant tls, such as Help Desk systems, Cnfiguratin databases, and Netwrk tls. Sme hardware and sftware prduct suppliers have als begun t incrprate ITIL int their service delivery and supprt prcesses, thus allwing ITIL t be used fr end-t-end supprt, between rganisatins. Cpyright Tech Partners Cnsulting Perth, 2003.

7 Cnsulting Cnclusin ITIL is nw established and used wrldwide as an accepted set f prcesses fr achieving IT Service, and prviding mre cnsistent IT services. IT teams are ften required t inter-wrk with ther rganisatins, vendrs and prject teams. The IT Infrastructure Library prvides a practical, cmmn language thrugh prcesses by which rganisatins can dialgue and cnduct frmal business, regardless f the rganisatin structures and technlgy investments. The utlk fr ITIL is fr its wider usage if yu aren t using it already, perhaps yu shuld be. References Useful references links include: The ITIL parent site The wning bdy fr ITIL and ITSM The IT Service Fundatin in Australia The UK examinatins bdy The Netherlands examinatins bdy The Statinery Office in the UK Other white papers frm Tech Partners Cnsulting Usage permissin ntice The material within this whitepaper is published free fr yur nn cmmercial use. All we ask is that the surce (Tech Partners Cnsulting at ) be acknwledged. If yu are using the material t derive a cnsulting incme r prfessinal fees, we ask that yu cntact us befrehand. Cpyright Tech Partners Cnsulting Perth, 2003.

8 Cnsulting Authr prfile Alan Pickering is the Principal f Tech Partners Cnsulting, which is based in Perth, Western Australia. Alan ffers 20 years experience in the management and implementatin f technlgy and technlgy based services. He hlds tertiary qualificatins in Cmmunicatins Engineering and additinally has pursued pst graduate studies in Business and Marketing. He als hlds the Service Manager certificatin in IT Service. His experience is gained frm time in the Telecmmunicatins industry, IT Services, Prject and Infrmatin and Cmmunicatins Technlgy (ICT) Cnsulting. His prfessinal interests include change via the intrductin f technlgy; and the marketing and delivery f ICT services within and between rganisatins. Web: alan.pickering@techpartners.net.au Cpyright Tech Partners Cnsulting Perth, 2003.