{"id":267,"date":"2010-07-06T07:35:00","date_gmt":"2010-07-06T07:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scmgalaxy.com\/tutorials\/2010\/07\/06\/information-technology-infrastructure-library-itil\/"},"modified":"2017-12-30T19:47:02","modified_gmt":"2017-12-30T19:47:02","slug":"information-technology-infrastructure-library-itil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/information-technology-infrastructure-library-itil\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) ? – Complete Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"information-technology-infrastructure-library-itil\/\"<\/p>\n

Introduction<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of concepts and practices for managing Information Technology (IT) services (ITSM), IT development and IT operations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Purpose<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

ITIL stresses service quality and focuses on how IT services can be efficiently and cost-effectively provided and supported. In the ITIL framework, the business units within an organization who commission and pay for IT services (e.g. Human Resources, Accounting), are considered to be “customers” of IT services. The IT organization is considered to be a service provider for the customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

It primarily focuses on what processes are needed to ensure high quality IT services; however, ITIL does not provide specific, detailed descriptions about how the processes should be implemented, as they will be different in each organization. In other words, ITIL tells an organization what to do, not how to do it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ITIL framework is typically implemented in stages, with additional processes added in a continuous service improvement program. <\/span><\/p>\n

Benefits<\/span><\/strong>
\nOrganizations can benefit in several important ways from ITIL: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>IT services become more customer-focused <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>The quality and cost of IT services are better managed <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>The IT organization develops a clearer structure and becomes more efficient <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>IT changes are easier to manage <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>There is a uniform frame of reference for internal communication about IT <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>IT procedures are standardized and integrated <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>Demonstrable and auditable performance measurements are defined<\/span><\/p>\n

Processes<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

ITIL is a series of books that outline a comprehensive and consistent set of process-based best practices for IT Service Management, promoting the ultimate achievement of IT Service Management goals. IT Service Management (ITSM) is the process of managing IT services to effectively and efficiently meet the needs of the customer. <\/span><\/p>\n

Versions<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2001, version 2 of ITIL was released. The Service Support and Service Delivery books were redeveloped into more concise usable volumes and consequently became the core focus of ITIL. Over the following few years it became, by far, the most widely used IT service management best practice approach in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

In May 2007 version 3 of ITIL was published. This adopted more of a lifecycle approach to service management, with greater emphasis on IT business integration.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Where ITIL V2<\/span><\/strong> outlined what should be done to improve processes, ITIL V3 explains clearly how you should go about doing it<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

ITIL V2 Explained<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Service Management section of ITIL V2 consists of eleven disciplines and is divided into two sections as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

Service Support:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Configuration Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Service Desk<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Incident Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Problem Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Change Management <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Release Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Service Delivery:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Availability Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 IT Services Continuity Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Capacity Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Financial Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Service Level Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Here are the details of Service support components.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1. Configuration Management<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Objectives:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Providing information on the IT infrastructure<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o To all other processes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o IT Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Enabling control of the infrastructure by monitoring and maintaining information<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

on:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o All the resources needed to deliver services<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Configuration Item (CI) status and history<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Configuration Item relationships<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Tasks:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Identification and naming<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Management information<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Verification<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Control<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Status Accounting<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Asset:<\/span><\/strong> Component of a business process like people, accommodation, computer systems,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

paper records, fax machines, etc.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Configuration Management Database:<\/span><\/strong> A database, which contains all relevant details of<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

each Configuration Item (CI) and details of the important relationships between CIs.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A Configuration Item (CI):<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Is needed to deliver a service<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Is uniquely identifiable<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Is subject to change<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Can be managed<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A Configuration Item (CI) has:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 a Category<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Relationships<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Attributes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 a Status<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Variant: <\/span><\/strong>A Configuration Item (CI) that has the same basic functionality as another<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Configuration Item (CI) but is different in some small way (ex: has more memory)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Baseline:<\/span><\/strong> A snapshot of the state of a Configuration Item and any component or related<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Configuration Items, frozen in time for a particular purpose (such as the ability to return a<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

service to a trusted state if a change goes wrong)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Configuration Management supports all other processes!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Scope vs. Detail<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Relationships \u2013 Common Types:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Is a component of<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Is a copy of<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Relates to<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Relates with<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Is used by<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2. Service Desk<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Objectives:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 To be the primary point of call for all:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Calls<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Questions<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Requests<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Complaints<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Remarks<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 To restore the service as quickly as possible<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 To manage the incident life-cycle (coordinating resolution)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 To support business activities<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 To generate reports, to communicate and to promote<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Different Desks<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Call Center: Handling large call volumes of telephone-based transactions.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Help Desk: To manage, coordinate, and resolve Incidents as quickly as possible.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Service Desk: Allowing business processes to be integrated into the Service<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Management infrastructure. It not only handles Incidents, Problems and questions,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

but also provides an interface for other activities.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Service Desk Essentials:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Single point of contact \/ Restore service ASAP<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Tasks: Customer Interface, Business Support, Incident Control & Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Information<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Concentrates on incident lifecycle management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Incident: Unexpected disruption to agreed service<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Priority determined by business impact and urgency<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Correct assessment of priorities enables the deployment of manpower and other<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

resources to be in the best interests of the customer<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Escalation and referral<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

3. Incident Management<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Objectives:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 To restore normal service as quickly as possible<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Minimize the adverse impact on business operations<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Ensuring that the best possible levels of service quality and availability are<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

maintained according to SLAs.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Incident<\/span><\/strong>: Any event which is not part of the standard operation of a service and which<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

causes or may cause an interruption to or a reduction in the quality of that service.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Work-Around<\/span><\/strong>: Method of avoiding an Incident or Problem.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Service Request<\/span><\/strong>: Every Incident not being a failure in the IT Infrastructure.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Problem<\/span><\/strong>: The unknown root cause of one or more incidents.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Known Error<\/span><\/strong>: A condition that exists after the successful diagnosis of the root cause of a<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

problem when it is confirmed that a CI (Configuration Item) is at fault.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Impact on the business + Urgency \/ Effect upon business deadlines = Priority<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Category<\/span><\/strong>: Classification of a group of Incidents (Application, Hardware, etc.)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Escalation (Vertical Escalation): escalates up the management chain.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Referral (Horizontal Escalation<\/span><\/strong>): escalates to a different knowledge group. Routing.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Incident Life-Cycle<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Accept Service Event, Register and Consult the CMDB<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Classification<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Solve<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Closure<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Reporting is VERY important.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Daily reviews of individual Incident and Problem status against service levels<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Weekly management reviews<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Monthly management reviews<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Proactive service reports<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

4. Problem Management<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Objectives:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Stabilizing IT services through:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Minimizing the consequences of incidents<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Removal of the root causes of incidents<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Prevention of incidents and problems<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Prevent recurrence of Incidents related to errors<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Improving productive use of resources<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Tasks:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Problem Control<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Error Control (including raising RfCs \u2013 Request for Change)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Proactive Prevention<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Identifying Trends<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Management Information<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Posit Implementation Review (PIR)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Goal is to get from reactive or proactive. Stop problems from occurring \/ recurring.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Inputs:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Incident details<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Configuration details<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Defined work-arounds<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Outputs:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Known Errors<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Requests for Change<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Updated Problem Records including work-arounds and\/or solutions<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Response to Incident Management from Matching Management Information<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Problem Control<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Identification<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Classification<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Assign Resources<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Investigation and Diagnosis<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Establish Known Error<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Error Control<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Error Identification and Recording<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Error Assessment<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Recording Error \/ Resolution (Send out RfC)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Error Closure<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Known Error:<\/span><\/strong> An Incident or Problem for which the root cause is known and for which a<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

temporary Work-around or a permanent alternative has been identified.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Proactive Problem Management:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Trend Analysis<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Targeting Support Action<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Providing Information to the Organization<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Known Errors resulting from Development should be made known to the Helpdesk.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Reporting is also key for Problem Management.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

5. Change Management<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Objective<\/span><\/strong>: To implement approved <\/em>changes efficiently, cost-effectively <\/em>and with minimal<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

risk <\/span><\/em>to the existing and to the new IT infrastructure. Only approved changes made, risk<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

and cost minimized.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Change Management Tasks:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Filtering Changes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Managing Change Process<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Managing Changes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Chairing CAB and CAB\/EC<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Review and Closure<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Management Information<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Inputs:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Requests for Change (RfC)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 CMDB<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Forward Schedule of Changes (FSC)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Outputs:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Forward Schedule of Changes (FSC)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Requests for Change (RFC)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 CAB minutes and actions<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Change management reports<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Impact of change:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Category 1<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Little impact on current services. The Change Manager is entitled to<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

authorize this RfC.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Category 2<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Clear impact on services. The RfC must be discussed in the Change<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Advisory Board. The Change Manager requests advice on authorization<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

and planning.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Category 3<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Significant impact on the services and the business. Considerable<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

manpower and\/or resources needed. The RfC will have to be submitted to<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

the board level (CAB\/EC \u2013 Change Advisory Board \/ Executive<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Committee)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Priority Setting:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Urgent<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Change necessary now (otherwise severe business impact)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 High<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Change needed as soon as possible (potentially damaging)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Medium<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Change will solve irritating errors or missing functionality (can be<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

scheduled)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Low <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Change leads to minor improvements<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A change backout plan must always be possible.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Change management always ends with a review of the change.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Change:<\/span><\/strong> The addition, modification, or removal of approved, supported or baselined<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

hardware, network, software, application, environment, system, desktop build or<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

associated documentation.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Request for Change:<\/span><\/strong> Form or screen, used to record details of a request for a change to<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

any CI within an infrastructure or to procedures and items associated with the<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

infrastructure.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Forward Schedule of Changes (FSC):<\/span><\/strong> Schedule that contains details of all the Changes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

approved for implementation and their proposed implementation dates.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Change Management Process<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1. Request for a Change<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2. Registration and Classification<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

3. Monitoring and Planning<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

4. Approve<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

5. Build & Test<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

6. Authorize Implementation<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

7. Implementation<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

8. Evaluate<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

6. Release Management<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Objectives:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Safeguard all software and related items<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Ensure that only tested \/ correct version of authorized software are in use<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Ensure that only tested \/ correct version of authorized hardware are in use<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Right software, right time, right place<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Right hardware, right time, right place<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Tasks:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Define the release policies<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Control of the Definitive Software Library (DSL)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Control of the Definitive Hardware Storage (DHS)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Distribute Software and Associated CIs<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Carry out S\/W audits (using CMDB)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Manage the software releases<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Oversee build of the software releases<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Releases are done under the control of Change Management.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

DSL :<\/span><\/strong> Definitive Software Library. Reliable versions of software in a single logical<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

location. However, software may be physically stored at different locations.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Release Policy:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Release Unit<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Full \/ Package \/ Delta Releases<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Numbering<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Frequency<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Emergency Change<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Version Control:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Development<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Testing<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Live<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Archive<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Process:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Software Control and Distribution (operational)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Change Management (control)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Configuration Management (control and administration)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Only process which creates its own policy.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Here are the details of Service Delivery<\/strong> components.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1. Availability Management<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Objectives:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 To predict, plan for and manage the availability of services by ensuring that:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o All services are underpinned by sufficient, reliable and properly<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

maintained CIs<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Where CIs are not supported internally there are appropriate contractual<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

agreements with third party suppliers<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Changes are proposed to prevent future loss of service availability<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Only then can IT organizations be certain of delivering the levels of availability<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

agreed with customers in SLAs.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Aspects of Availability:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Reliability<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Maintainability: Maintenance you do yourself, as a company<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Resilience: Redundancy<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Serviceability: Maintenance done by someone else<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Availability Information is stored in an Availability Database (ADB). This information is<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

used to create the Availability Plan. SLAs provide an input to this process.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Unavailability Lifecycle<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

MTTR:<\/span><\/strong> Mean Time to Repair (Downtime) \u2013 Time period that elapses between the<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

detection of an Incident and it\u2019s Restoration. Includes: Incident, Detection, Diagnosis,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Repair, Recovery, Restoration.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

MTBF:<\/span><\/strong> Mean Time Between Failures (Uptime) \u2013 Time period that elapses between<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Restoration and a new Incident.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

MTBSI:<\/span><\/strong> Mean Time Between System Incidents \u2013 Time period that elapses between two<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

incidents. MTTR + MTBF.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAn IT service is not available <\/em>to a customer if the functions that customer requires at<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

that particular location <\/em>cannot be used although the agreed conditions <\/em>under which the IT<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

service is supplied are being met\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Simplistic Availability Calculation:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Agreed Service Hours \u2013 Downtime 100<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

—————————————— X —-<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Agreed Service Hours 1<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

2. IT Service Continuity Management<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Why plan?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Increases Business dependency on IT<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Reduced cost and time of recovery<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Cost to customer relationship<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Survival<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Many businesses fail within a year of suffering a major IT disaster.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Business Impact Analysis:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Risk Analysis:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Value of Assets<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Threats<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Vulnerabilities<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Risk Management:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Countermeasures<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Planning for potential disasters<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Managing a disaster<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Risk Analysis: Based on the CCTA Computer Risk Analysis and Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Methodology (CRAMM)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Options:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Do nothing<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2. Manual workarounds<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

3. Reciprocal arrangements<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

4. Gradual Recovery (cold standby)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

5. Intermediate Recovery (warm standby)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

6. Immediate Recovery (hot standby)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Cold start = accommodation. Environmental controls; power and communications<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hot start = cold start + computing equipment and software<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

7 Sections of the Plan:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Administration<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2. The IT Infrastructure<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

3. IT Infrastructure management & Operating procedures<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

4. Personnel<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

5. Security<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

6. Contingency site<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

7. Return to normal<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Test and Review:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Initially then every 6 to 12 months and after each disaster<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Test it under realistic circumstances<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Move \/ protect any live services first<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Review and change the plan<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 All changes made via the CAB \u2013 Change Advisory Board<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Contingency Plan:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Assists in fast, controlled recovery<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Must be given wide but controlled access<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Contents (incl. Admin, Infrastructure, People, Return to normal)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Options (incl. Cold & Hot Start)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Must be tested regularly \u2013 without impacting the live service<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

3. Capacity Management<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Objective:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

To determine the right, cost justifiable, capacity <\/em>of IT resources such that the Service<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Levels agreed with the business are achieved at the right time<\/em>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Objectives:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Demand Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Business Capacity Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Workload Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Service Capacity Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Resource Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Resource Capacity Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While doing the above, also need to do:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Performance Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Internal and External Financial Data<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o Usage Data<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

o SLM Data \/ Response Times<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

CDB \u2013 Capacity Data Base \u2013 Contains all Metrics, etc. Used to create a Capacity<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Management Plan. Performance Management Data populates the CDB.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Essentials:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 From Customer Demands to Resources<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Demand Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Workload Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Performance Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Capacity Planning<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Defining Thresholds and Monitoring<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Application Sizing:<\/span><\/strong> To estimate the resource requirements to support a proposed<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

application change to ensure that it meets its required service levels.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Modeling:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Trend Analysis<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Analytical Modeling<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Simulation Modeling<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Baseline Models<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Used to Answer the \u201cWhat If\u2026 \u201c questions<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Data for Modeling comes from the CDB<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

4. Financial Management<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Objectives:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

To provide information about and control over the costs of delivering IT services that<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

support customers business needs.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Costing is a must!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Input cost units recommended by ITIL:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Equipment Cost Units (ECU)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Organization Cost Units (OCU)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Transfer Cost Units (TCU)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Accommodation Cost Units (ACU)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Software Cost Units (SCU)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Equipment = hardware<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Organization = staff<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Transfer = costs which IT incurs acting as an agent for the customer, they do not appear<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

as a cost against the IT department\u2019s budget<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Accommodation = buildings<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Software = software<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Different Cost Types:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Fixed – unaffected by the level of usage<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Variable – varying according to the level of usage<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Direct – usage specific to one service<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Indirect or Overhead \u2013 usage not specific to one service<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Capital \u2013 not diminished by usage<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Revenue or running \u2013 diminish with usage<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Charging Objectives:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Recover from customers the full costs of the IT services provided<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Ensure that customers are aware of the costs they impose on IT<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Ensure that providers have an incentive to deliver and agreed quality and quantity<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

of economic and effective services<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Charging and Pricing Options:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Charging:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 No Charging \u2013 IT treated as support center<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Notional Charging \u2013 IT treated as cost center<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Actual Charging<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Pricing:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Recover of Costs \u2013 IT treated as a service center<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Cost Price Plus \u2013 IT treated as a profit center<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Market Prices \u2013 IT treated as a profit center<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Support and Cost centers used \u201csoft charging\u201d in which no money changes hands; service and profit centers use \u201chard costing\u201d in which money is transferred between bank<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

accounts<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Profit centers focus on the value of the IT service to the customer<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Good Financial Management minimizes the risks in decision making<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Three Main Processes:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Budgeting:<\/span><\/strong> The process of predicting and controlling the spending of money within the<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

enterprise and consists of periodic negotiation cycle to set budgets (usually annual) and<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

the day-to-day monitoring of the current budgets. Key influence on strategic and tactical<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

plans.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

IT Accounting:<\/span><\/strong> The set of processes that enable the IT organization to fully account for<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

the way its money is spent (particularly the ability to identify costs by customer, by<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

service, by activity).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Charging:<\/span><\/strong> The set of processes required to bill a customer for the services applied to<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

them. To achieve this requires sound IT Accounting, to a level of detail determined by<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

the requirements of the analysis, billing, and reporting procedures.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

5. Service Level Management<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Balance between the Demand for IT services and the Supply of IT services by knowing<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

the requirements of the business and knowing the capabilities of IT.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Objectives:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Business-like relationship between customer and supplier<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Improved specification and understanding of service requirements<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Greater flexibility and responsiveness in service provision<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Balance customer demands and cost of services provision<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Measurable service levels<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Quality improvement (continuous review)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Objective conflict resolution<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Tasks:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Service Catalog<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Service Level Requirements<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Service Level Agreement<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Operational Level Agreements (OLA) and Contracts<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Service Specsheet<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Service Quality Plan<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Monitor, Review and Report<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Service Improvement Programs<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Customer Relationship Management<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Minimum Requirements for an Agreement:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Period<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Service Description<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Throughput<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Availability<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Response Times<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Signature<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Other Possible Clauses:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Contingency arrangements<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Review procedures<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Change procedures<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Support services<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Customer responsibilities<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Housekeeping<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Inputs and Outputs<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Changes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ideally contracts are based on targets in the SLA<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

SLAs must be monitored regularly and reviewed regularly<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Monitor to see if service is being delivered to specification<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Review to see if service specification is still appropriate<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Overview of the ITIL v3 library<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Five volumes comprise the ITIL v3, published in May 2007:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1. ITIL Service Strategy<\/em> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2. ITIL Service Design <\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

3. ITIL Service Transition<\/em> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

4. ITIL Service Operation<\/em> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

5. ITIL Continual Service Improvement<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Service Strategy<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

As the center and origin point of the ITIL Service Lifecycle, the ITIL Service Strategy volume provides guidance on clarification and prioritization of service-provider investments in services. More generally, Service Strategy focuses on helping IT organizations improve and develop over the long term. In both cases, Service Strategy relies largely upon a market-driven approach. Key topics covered include service value definition, business-case development, service assets, market analysis, and service provider types. List of covered processes:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Service Portfolio Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Demand Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  • IT Financial Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  • Supplier Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Service Design<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

    The ITIL Service Design volume provides good-practice guidance on the design of IT services, processes, and other aspects of the service management effort. Significantly, design within ITIL is understood to encompass all elements relevant to technology service delivery, rather than focusing solely on design of the technology itself. As such, Service Design addresses how a planned service solution interacts with the larger business and technical environments, service management systems required to support the service, processes which interact with the service, technology, and architecture required to support the service, and the supply chain required to support the planned service. Within ITIL v2, design work for an IT service is aggregated into a single Service Design Package (SDP). Service Design Packages, along with other information about services, are managed within the service catalogs. List of covered processes:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Service Catalogue Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • Service Level Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • Risk Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • Capacity Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • Availability Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • IT Service Continuity Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • Information Security Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • Compliance Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • IT Architecture Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • Supplier Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Service Transition<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

      Service transition, as described by the ITIL Service Transition volume, relates to the delivery of services required by a business into live\/operational use, and often encompasses the “project” side of IT rather than “BAU”. This area also covers topics such as managing changes to the “BAU” environment.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      List of processes:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      • Service Asset and Configuration Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
      • Service Validation and Testing <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
      • Evaluation <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
      • Release Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
      • Change Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
      • Knowledge Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Service Operation<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

        Best practice for achieving the delivery of agreed levels of services both to end-users and the customers (where “customers” refer to those individuals who pay for the service and negotiate the SLAs). Service operation, as described in the ITIL Service Operation volume, is the part of the lifecycle where the services and value is actually directly delivered. Also the monitoring of problems and balance between service reliability and cost etc are considered. The functions include technical management, application management, operations management and Service Desk as well as, responsibilities for staff engaging in Service Operation.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

        List of processes:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

          \n
        • Event Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
        • Incident Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
        • Problem Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
        • Request Fulfillment <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
        • Access Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Continual Service Improvement (CSI)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

          Aligning and realigning IT services to changing business needs (because standstill implies decline).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

          Continual Service Improvement, defined in the ITIL Continual Service Improvement volume, aims to align and realign IT Services to changing business needs by identifying and implementing improvements to the IT services that support the Business Processes. The perspective of CSI on improvement is the business perspective of service quality, even though CSI aims to improve process effectiveness, efficiency and cost effectiveness of the IT processes through the whole lifecycle. To manage improvement, CSI should clearly define what should be controlled and measured.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

          CSI needs to be treated just like any other service practice. There needs to be upfront planning, training and awareness, ongoing scheduling, roles created, ownership assigned, and activities identified to be successful. CSI must be planned and scheduled as process with defined activities, inputs, outputs, roles and reporting.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

          List of processes:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

            \n
          • Service Level Management <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
          • Service Measurement and Reporting <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
          • Continual Service Improvement<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            ———————————————————————————————————————————-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Introduction The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of concepts and practices for managing Information Technology (IT) services (ITSM), IT development and IT operations. Purpose ITIL stresses service quality and focuses on how IT services can be efficiently and cost-effectively provided and supported. In the ITIL framework, the business units within an organization…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4306,957,1122,4296,4297,1127,4305,4298,4304,4302,359,4300,4299,213,4301,4303],"class_list":["post-267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-about-information-technology-infrastructure-library","tag-benefits","tag-guide","tag-information-technology","tag-information-technology-infrastructure-library","tag-introduction","tag-it-service-management","tag-itil","tag-itil-overview","tag-itil-v3-library","tag-overview","tag-processes","tag-purpose","tag-tutorial","tag-versions","tag-what-is-itil-process"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4443,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267\/revisions\/4443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}