ITSM Newsletter Volume 5 - May/June, 2003

Preface
Last month we discussed in detail those processes and methods required to define, characterize, and develop a Service Catalog as part of IT Service Management best practices and described the relationship between a Service Catalog and Service Level Management.

Introduction
This newsletter for May/June, 2003 will be the first of several parts that will present the processes and methods required to define, characterize, and develop ITSM Service Continuity best practices and deal directly with Disaster Recovery Planning.

What is ITSM Service Continuity?
ITSM Service Continuity typically includes the following major elements:
   • Business Impact Analysis
   • Disaster Recovery Planning
   • Information Technology Infrastructure for Service Continuity

It should be noted that the section on business impact analysis is included as the main purpose of any disaster recovery effort since a business impact analysis is necessary to provide input to a subsequent disaster recovery planning effort. In addition, disaster recovery is a main and critical component of ITSM Service Continuity.

Business Impact Analysis
Through interviews with users or their representatives, a business impact analysis will verify the major systems that must be recovered, help determine the effects of an interruption of those systems, and verify the priority and sequence of functions and application systems which should be recovered if an emergency occurs.

The results of the business impact analysis will help the Customer determine the true effects of a disaster to the computer resources and in turn help to justify a recovery strategy.

Without conducting a proper business impact analysis, an organization may run the risk of making arbitrary and possibly incorrect decisions about the importance and recovery sequence of their business functions and supporting application systems. As a result, they may either arrange for inadequate recovery resources or pay more for recovery than is required.

Business impact analysis requires extensive fact-finding and analytical activities. The benefits of a business impact analysis are:
   • To verify the major systems that must be recovered in the event of an outage
   • To determine the operating, financial, legal, and regulatory effects of an interruption of these systems
   • To determine the capability of each department to respond to an outage
   • To verify the priority and sequence of functions and application systems which should be recovered if an outage occurs
   • To assess the need to develop a disaster recovery plan and to arrange for the availability of a recovery facility and its required size
   • To present to management an assessment of the organization's reliance upon a centralized data center or server cluster, its ability to carry on business during an outage, and its preparedness to restore its original computing capabilities.

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

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Business Impact Analysis Component Areas

Criticality Definitions
   • Priority 1 (Critical) - This application is absolutely essential for the company to remain operational. A loss of this application would have an immediate major impact on company operations.
   • Priority 2 (Less Critical) - This application is not critical, but would have some immediate impact on company operations.
   • Priority 3 (Non-Critical) - This application is not necessary for the company to remain operational and has little or no immediate impact on company operations.

Important Application Information Areas
   1) Functional description of the application
   2) List the application systems that feed this application or databases
   3) List the applications that this application feeds
   4) Categorize server, workstation, or terminal access, if any
   5) Categorize processing methods of the application
   6) Mandatory times of online operation
   7) Known tested alternative methods for processing the application in the event of a disaster
   8) How long could the application be suspended from its normal processing mode
   9) In an emergency, could multiple runs of days, weeks, or months be done for application batch processing
   10) Is the application required by law, regulation, or contractual commitments
   11) Does the application handle classified, governmental, trade secret, or federal/military information
   12) List any critical dates or periods associated with the application
   13) What does the user community do currently if application processing is substantially delayed
   14) Name the major contacts for this application
   15) Is this application Priority 1, 2, or 3
   16) What would be the processing cycle for this application in a disaster mode; daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, or as required
   17) How would data be generated/re-entered in the event of a disaster
   18) Any special application considerations

Next Month we will finalize the Business Impact Analysis resource and business requirement informational areas and begin presenting the 14 necessary components and steps to developing an effective ITSM Service Continuity, Disaster Recovery Plan

Is Your Company Triple "A" Rated?
   • Aware - Of internal and external factors that could impact your business
   • Adaptable - To change the focus of your company's resources and expertise depending on changes in internal and external factors
   • Agile - To focus your company's resources and expertise effectively and efficiently in the quickest manner possible

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RL Consulting Utilizes:
The Proactive Business Model, Realization of Benefits,
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One step beyond IT Service Management,
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Downloads
White Papers:
   » SLA Description and Templates
   » Consolidation Questionnaires
   » Service Continuity Methods
   » Project Management Practices
   » Developing a Communication Plan
   » Data Management Process
   » Proactive Business Model
   » Realization of Benefits
   » SAGA Business Strategy
   » Enterprise Infrastructure Architecture

Service Briefs:
   » ITSM Maturity Assessment
   » Incident and Problem Management
   » Service Continuity
   » Configuration 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 5 - May/June, 2003
This newsletter and the information contained herein is maintained by Rick Leopoldi and property of RL Information Consulting LLC.