ITIL: Why Your IT Organization Should Care Service Support Wendy Shih Wshih@kent.edu Kent State University

History ITIL - IT Infrastructure Library Developed by British government in 1980’s Focus on continuously improvement Consists of 8 books, currently in version 2 ICT Infrastructure Management (Vol. I and II) Application Management Planning and Implementation Software Asset Management Service Support (blue book) - core book Service Delivery (red book) - core book Security Management Business Perspectives Version 3 released May 30, 2007 has 5 books

Why adopting ITIL? It aligns with IT business goals and service objectives It is process driven, scaleable and flexible Reduce IT cost yet providing optimal services Increase relationship and communication among different departments, employees, customers and users Successfully adapted by HP, IBM, PG, Shell Oil, Boeing, Microsoft, Proctor and Gamble, State of CA

How Is It Different? Provide common language for IT Not a methodology but guidelines with best practices Connect processes Provide a framework It is public domain not proprietary Core books consist - one function and ten processes:

Service Support The Service Desk - a function Incident Management Service Support Problem Management Service Support Change Management Service Support Release Management Service Support Configuration Management Service Support Service Level Management Service Delivery Financial Management Service Delivery IT Continuity Management Service Delivery Availability Management Service Delivery Capacity Management Service Delivery

Incident Management A disruption in normal or standard business operation that affects the quality of service Goal: restore normal service as quickly as possible and minimize the adverse effect on business operation

Incident Activities Detection & Report Classification & support Service Request Monitoring, tracking and communication Investigation & diagnosis Escalate Resolution & recovery Incident Closure

Service Desk Function SPOC - Single Point of Contact Record and resolve incidents Provide work-around, escalate if not resolved Produce incident reports Keep users and customers informed of progress Responsible for incident life cycle

Configuration Management Service Desk Service Support Incident Management End Users Problem Management Change Management Release Management Configuration Management

Problem Management A problem is an unknown underlying cause of an error or failure in the IT infrastructure Known error - incidents or problems that the underlying cause is known (root cause) and a temporary work-around or alternative fix has been identified Goal: Minimize the impact of incidents caused by errors Reduce recurrence of incidents due to these errors Incidents Problems Known Error RFC Error in Infrastructure Solutions

Problem Management Activities Problem Control Identify, classify and solve problems Root cause identification Provide work-around to the Service Desk Error Control Review and assess Known Error identified from Root Cause Eliminate known errors using the Change management Prevent incidents - trend analysis and place preventive measures

Service Desk & Problem Management Incidents vs Problems Propose incidents Incident Matching Identify recurrences of solved problems Report and identify new work-around Identify trend

Change Management Goal: All changes are controlled and managed with standardized procedures and minimum interruption A change is when a state of supported hardware, network, software, application, environment, system, or associated documentation is different because of: Addition Change Move

Change Management Activities Log /Filter requests for change (RFC) Prioritize and categorize RFCs Assessing resource requirements and impact Authorize and approve RFCs by Change Advisory Board Schedule and build the change Create back-out plan and test the change Implement and review implemented changes Review the change management process

Service Desk & Change Management Receive and forward Request for Change (RFC) Provide feedback to users about the changes Ready to support and understand the impact Identify and report failed changes Report and feedback to Change management

Configuration Management Accounts for relationship between assets Owner of Configuration Management DB - CMDB Account and track for all IT assets & configuration items (CI) in the CMDB Verify configuration records against the infrastructure for accuracy A sound basis for Incident, Problem, Change and Release Management Example of CI - SLA, workstation, documentation, application, printers CI attributes: names, id, location, version, person responsible, model, supplier

Configuration Management Activities Plan Identify - CI Control - CI and change authorization Status Accounting - keep CI up-to-date Audit / Verification - accuracy Report of CI life cycle

Service Desk and Configuration Mgmt Use CMDB retrieve incident and problem records Report and identify inaccurate CMDB relationship Assess severity and priority with CMDB info Provide customers with CMDB changes Assist Configuration Management team with CMDB audit

Release Management Goals: Plan and oversee successful rollout Design and implement efficient procedures Communicate and agree to the rollout plan through Change Management Ensure master copies are secured in DSL and DHS Ensure CMDB is updated and changes are traceable Owner of DSL - Definitive Software Library Owner of DHS - Definitive Hardware Store

Release Management CMDB Activities: Policy Schedule Design /Develop Build Test Accept Plan Rollout Distribute / install Review Development Test CMDB Production Archive

Service Desk and Release Management Identify incidents from rollout Assist in release planning Record and report Provide feedback Ensure staff can support new releases

Configuration Management Service Desk Service Support Incident Management End Users Problem Management Change Management Release Management Configuration Management

Successful ITIL Service Desk Increasing customers and users satisfaction Decrease incident numbers First call resolution goal Accurate incident identification and escalation Excellent communication with other areas SLA compliance

Service Support The common area to implement ITIL Increase customer and user satisfaction IT will be more efficient and effective Decrease IT financial cost

ITSMF — ITIL global forum Useful ITIL Links The Official ITIL Site http://www.ogc.gov.uk/ ITSMF — ITIL global forum http://www.itsmf.com/ ITIL COMMUNITY FORUM http://www.itilcommunity.com

Questions and Discussion Wendy Shih wshih@kent.edu Thank you!