IT Services Management
From Information Systems at Pitt Business
Contents |
[edit] IT Service Management (ITSM)
[edit]
What is ITSM?
In today’s world, where IT is the backbone of any and every company in the world, it is impossible to think of an organization that does not employ multiple numbers of network devices, systems, and servers. And when these systems become key to not just the progress, but also in maintaining continuity of day to day operations, it becomes a necessity to manage the infrastructure of the organization in a planned and methodical manner. IT Services Management (ITSM) is a proven and effective framework for helping IT organizations become more adaptive, flexible, cost-effective, and service-oriented. It is a discipline for managing information technology (IT) systems, philosophically centered on the customer's perspective of IT's contribution to the business. ITSM stands in deliberate contrast to technology-centered approaches to IT management and business interaction. One primary origin of ITSM can be found in the systems management services and functions historically done in the large scale mainframe environments. Through constant refinement over the years, these services and functions attained a high level of maturity. Problem and Change Management, configuration management, capacity planning, disaster recovery, performance management, availability management, etc. are some examples. IT Service Management (ITSM) derives enormous benefits from a best practice approach. Because ITSM is driven both by technology and the huge range of organizational environments in which it operates, it is in a state of constant evolution. Although managing the technology itself is a necessary component of most ITSM solutions, it is not the primary focus. Instead ITSM addresses the need to align the delivery of IT services closely with the needs of the business. This transformation of a traditional “business-IT paradigm” can be depicted by some of the following attributes:
ITSM is process-focused and in this sense has ties and common interests with process improvement movement (e.g., TQM, Six Sigma, Business Process Management, CMMI) frameworks and methodologies. The discipline is not concerned with the details of how to use a particular vendor's product, or necessarily with the technical details of the systems under management. Instead, it focuses upon providing a framework to structure IT-related activities and the interactions of IT technical personnel with business customers and users. In particular, ITSM employs ITIL documented best practices and in most cases extends beyond into additional areas such as enhanced processes and implementation to provide additional value-added functionality. At present, ITSM methods have evolved to include specific ways to enable and optimize assessment, planning, and implementation of ITIL best practices.
[edit] ITIL – Past, Present, Future
ITIL was conceived from the beginning as a means to achieve transformative change. It began as a project launched by the government of the United Kingdom (U.K.) in the early 1980s. Faced with a serious economic downturn, the government recognized it must develop innovative ways to improve IT service efficiencies and thereby lower costs. To do this, the British Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), an executive Cabinet Office agency dedicated to improving the delivery of public services through IT, developed a set of best practice-based ITSM processes. These were documented using a common glossary of terms and published in an integrated series of 40 books. The series, since updated and packaged as seven books, is now referred to as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL).
Though ITIL was developed during the 1980s, it was not widely adopted until the mid 1990s. This newfound wider adoption and awareness has led to a number of standards, including ISO/IEC 20000 which is an international standard covering the IT Service Management elements of ITIL. ITIL is often considered alongside other best practice frameworks such as the Information Services Procurement Library (ISPL), the Application Services Library (ASL), Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM), the Capability Maturity Model (CMM/CMMI), and is often linked with IT governance through Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT).
In December 2005, the OGC issued notice of an ITIL refresh [7], commonly known as ITIL v3, which became available in May 2007. ITIL v3 initially includes five core texts:
• Service Strategy
• Service Design
• Service Transition
• Service Operation
• Continual Service Improvement
These publications update much of the current v2 and extend the scope of ITIL in the domain of service management.
[edit] Let’s Talk Business
Stakeholders:The ideal way of looking at this is to define the IT Services as a business. Then it becomes easier to identify the stakeholders. On a global level, there are two organizations – one that provides the service, and one that receives it. In this case, the IT department (for smaller companies with internal IT management) is the service provider, and the internal department (at times the entire organization) is the customer. The advancement of ITSM has taken it to such levels that there are entire companies dedicated to providing IT Service Management as an offering. This also brings in the vendors – the creators of the tools that the service providers use to provide high quality of services. While the solutions are created and implemented by the provider, the enterprise applications that they use have an entire genre of technology dedicated to them. The following exhibits provide a better picture of the vendors and service providers in the segments.
Financials:As a necessary evil, the cost of providing an ongoing solution like ITSM is always heavy. It also needs a strong initial investment to start the process. And unlike most businesses, it is very tedious to identify the profits caused by ITSM. While it is understood that “Money saved is money earned”, it is very hard to explain the same to the business leaders. The ITIL in its latest form (ITIL v3) provides methods to calculate the business profits caused by ITSM in a short and long run.
The costs involved in running a Service Management Center include the cost of employment of engineers, and helpdesk employees, and most of the time the cost of setting up the infrastructure to manage the infrastructure. Solutions by prominent vendors like IBM, BMC, CA, HP, etc. range from $50,000 upwards depending upon the requirement of the service provider and services provided.
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Maturity: ITSM as a technology and as a framework is continuously evolving, and that gives a strong sense of nurturing a new born towards maturity, however, let me say at this point – “this baby learns fast”. The evolution of ITSM and ITIL has been a point of discussion around the world in various forums including the ItSMF (http://www.itsmfi.org/) and the ITIL Community (http://www.itilcommunity.com/). Professionals around the world are working towards making this a more efficient and better suited solution to the current and future of IT Service Management.
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Certifications: As a prominent framework, this is also supported by certifications provided around the world. HP and EXIN are the leaders in providing certifications for ITSM and ITIL. More information can be found at their websites.
[edit] Implementation of ITSM and ITIL Frameworks
Implementing ITSM has broad organizational implications. Yet the initiative itself requires highly focused attention and a specialized skill set. Any IT organization considering ITSM must also weigh whether it is best achieved using internal resources or by engaging an outside consultant to help manage and implement ITSM best practices.
Guidelines for Implementation in any organization:
• The tool should support the people and the process.
• ITSM Tool solution needs to support the ITSM strategy and not hinder it.
• The ITSM tool is the main information source for IT and IT’s Knowledge Management efforts.
• Ownership of the tools lies within the Process Management Organization
• The ITSM tool needs to be an integrated part of IT’s overall technology architecture
• Work instructions are the only documents that reflect the usage of the tool.
• Don’t blame the tool!
• Implement in a phased-approach small steps (Plan-Do-Check-Act)
• Strong capabilities regarding Roles and Responsibilities features should be high on the wish-list
• Notification, Escalation, and Approval procedures should easily be supported by the ITSM tool solution (and in the ITSM Strategy)
• Reporting capabilities are key and are a key differentiator
• Training tailored to the type of user
• Define Use-Cases/Business Cases based on real-life business scenarios to determine that the tool covers every aspect of the process
• Continuous stakeholder communication is crucial!
Risks & Known Mistakes that Organizations Make
• Insufficient time is planned for testing or the test environment does not reflect the production environment
• No IT Tool Architect and IT Tool Architecture in place let alone an ITSM Strategy that should drive the tool architecture efforts.
• When not being a Fortune 50/100™ company stick to off-the-shelf software and stay away from building your own ITSM software
• Apply the 80/20 rule.
o No tool will be a 100% fit. The moment your ITSM tool solution is no longer able to support your ITSM requirements for 80% it is time to replace it.
o For ITIL-based tools this is usually after 5 years or even more. When an ITIL-based
• tool doesn’t fit for 80% then probably something is wrong with your processes or you have organizational challenges
• The end-to-end ITSM tool does not exist (nor does the end-to-end Systems Management tool)
• Begin at the beginning, not the end
o Take the big picture approach and then drill down into the details
o Beginning at the end means fighting symptoms and only serves job security goals
[edit] Conclusion
Implementing ITSM is as much an educational and change management task as a technology task; to ensure its success, IT executives must obtain executive and broad organizational support, engage IT staff responsible for both managing and executing ITSM processes, and overcome resistance to change. It’s also critical that the organization address its competencies, rather than merely skills, and ensure that the changes it implements are internalized.
