ITSM Newsletter Volume 3

Multiple ITSM Entry Points
Last month we discussed several questions that are typical of an ITSM effort; where is the best place to begin, what is the best way to proceed, what are the expertise and resource issues, and what are some critical success factors.

As we mentioned, the size, scope, and complexity of an ITSM effort is a long term strategy that has multiple entry points depending on unique customer requirements and maturity levels. However, some tactical areas are better starting points than others due to the size of the effort required, the benefits provided in the short term, and the strategic positioning provided.

This month we will explore some of these useful ITSM starting areas, the effort involved, and the benefits provided.

ITSM Effort Starting Points and Core Areas
Some solution provider methodologies suggest that Configuration and Change Management or Problem and Incident Management are the optimal and preferred areas to begin an ITSM effort due to their criticality and importance. Additionally, some assert that these are the "core" areas of IT service management.

While the importance of these areas can not be overstated, a more basic, simplistic approach is oftentimes the most effective. Although an initial ITSM Assessment should be done to help gauge maturity and priority across all ITSM areas encompassing the perspectives of people, process, technology, organization, and integration, it is appropriate to consider that ITSM is in essence about service and positioning the organization to be a service provider.

When viewed in this fashion, one of the most effective places to begin is with Service Level Management, more specifically with the development of a Service Catalog and Service Level Objectives and Agreements. It should be noted however that depending on customer requirement and priority, Configuration and Change Management and/or Problem and Incident Management areas could be assessed and worked on, in parallel.

A Review of ITSM Effort Basics
For most ITSM efforts, a high level approach that encompasses the following 4 phases is typically the most effective:
   1) Determine the current, existing IT infrastructure, processes, and services
   2) Develop some desired future state of IT and the services that it needs to provide
   3) Architect a "roadmap" that depicts how to get to the desired state from the current state
   4) Determine the steps needed to execute the "roadmap"

The ITSM implementation framework for each of the IT Service Management areas above is typically a 5 phase model:
   • Assessment - determine the current state and begin to collect and understand the metrics for the future desired state
   • Architect and Design - develop a mature design for the future desired state
   • Planning - develop those plans necessary to achieve the future desired state in a phased evolutionary fashion
   • Implementation - implement and deploy the plans within IT and across the enterprise to achieve the future desired state
   • Support - manage, maintain, and improve the desired state to adaptively integrate enhancements as needed or required

Within this framework, effectively managing IT as an enterprise wide, service oriented entity typically comprises one or more of the following separate and distinct perspectives:
   • People - quantity and quality of expertise and knowledge
   • Process - IT and organization specific practices, procedures, etc. and the level of complexity and sophistication of them
   • Technology - total logical and physical technology infrastructure of hardware, software, networks, applications, DBMS, etc.
   • Organization - internal and external business factors that affect IT, how IT and the organization interface, what is the organizations "corporate culture", what are the organization's direction and how does that affect IT
   • Integration - how is IT integrated within the business model, what services does IT provide, how are the services provided, and how are best practices employed within IT

Consider the following relationships between a phased ITSM implementation schema and these 5 perspectives:

Service Level Management as The Core of ITSM
Encompassed within service level management are negotiating and documenting service level objectives and agreements, service level monitoring and reporting, and developing and maintaining a service catalog.

Service Level Management is the process of managing the quality and quantity of a delivered IT service. It is an approach to delivering business critical IT services that focus on meeting agreed upon cost and performance targets developed and implemented in partnership with internal customers and embodied in service level agreements.

Service Level Management is a "customer-focused" perspective within IT that reflects the need for customers of IT services to become a valued business partner. This customer focus embodies some of the following key transition elements for IT:
   • Viewing consumers of their services as "customers" instead of "users"
   • Expanding the traditional "inward" perspective to looking "outward"
   • Expanding the focus on technology to include a focus on process
   • Migration from isolated "ad hoc" processes to business focused, replicable IT processes
   • Addressing customer service requirements with "measured, accountable" IT processes instead of "best effort"
   • Expand service provisioning from "in house" to include a cost-justified balance between "in sourcing" and "outsourcing"
   • Develop and implement integrated, end-to-end business to IT processes to replace "silo" oriented, fragmented processes
   • Using repeatable processes to migrate from a reactive IT organization to proactive
   • Define and develop new service-oriented roles and responsibilities
   • Enhance the IT system skill set to include a customer-focused orientation

Service Level Management within ITSM focuses on translating business and IT strategy into IT services, managing the service levels for those services, and putting in place continuous service improvement processes for these services. With this focus in mind, service level management plays a critical role through the development and use of service level objectives and agreements that provide the necessary metrics for measuring, assessing, managing, and reporting agreed upon service between IT and its customers. Some co-dependent areas linked with it are Availability, Capacity, Financial, and Performance Management.

RL Consulting Announces New ITSM Tools and Workshops
Utilizing SolutionMethod™ proprietary questions and evaluation processes, RL Consulting employs 3 automated tools; ITSM Assessment Worksheet, ITSM ROI Worksheet, and ITSM Implementation Readiness Worksheet.

1, 2, and 3 Day ITSM Workshops that offer a broad range of training beginning with Management level, through Strategy and Planning, to Implementation.

To Learn More About These Tools and Workshops and How They Can Help You - Click Here -

The Components of a Service Catalog
The context of Service Level Management within an ITSM best practice infrastructure, a Service Catalog is more than just a descriptive inventory of application systems.

The development of the service catalog is a critical first step in identifying and qualifying the types of services being provided. Beyond an inventory of applications, the business functions they support, and the technology architecture that supports it, the service catalog integrates service level objectives and agreements that have a business and customer service focus with financial metrics, if appropriate. Preferably it encompasses the 5 perspectives of people, process, technology, organization, and integration. It should be a published (an HTML format works well) and maintained. In this fashion it can be available for reference and actively used in the management of services.

The Goal of Service Level Management
Achieving ITSM service level management best practices will provide the following benefits:
   • An optimized, service focused organization
   • A well defined and effective set of tailored processes and methods that is supported enterprise-wide and is continuously improved
   • An integrated set of service metrics that are qualified and quantified being developed, documented, agreed upon, implemented, reported on, and managed to. These metrics encompass business requirements and the services provided to satisfy them Downloads
White Papers:
   » SLA Description and Templates
   » Consolidation Questionnaires
   » Service Continuity Methods
   » Project Management Practices
   » Developing a Communication Plan
   » Data Management Process

Service Briefs:
   » ITSM Maturity Assessment
   » Incident and Problem Management
   » Service Continuity
   » Config and Change Management
   » Service Level Management
   » Capacity Management
   » Availability Management
   » Release Management

- Click Here -

Additional Information
Visit www.itsm.info to learn about ITSM, IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), and SolutionMethod™ (a Policy Based ITSM Approach). In addition, you can download free and informative white papers, questionnaires, and service briefs. This includes more in-depth information on the topics presented in this newsletter.

To learn how RL Consulting can assist in achieving IT Service Management goals and our full range of solutions:
Contact us at RL_Consulting@itsm.info or phone us at 602-996-6830

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Volume 3 - May, 2002
This newsletter and the information contained herein is maintained by Rick Leopoldi and the property of RL Information Consulting LLC.