All about ITSM

Overview

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.

Background

 

One primary origin of ITSM can be found in the systems management services and functions historically done in 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, performance management, disaster recovery, availability management, etc. are some examples.

When examining the differences between mainframe systems management services and ITSM, it becomes apparent that when ITSM is applied in today’s IT environment and across the enterprise the benefits and sophistication of its best practices are highlighted and exemplified. Where mainframe environments are typically centralized, ITSM is applicable to both distributed and centralized environments. In addition, where mainframe services are typically stand-alone and technology based, ITSM provides for integrated services that are process based with a focus on satisfying business requirements.

Although managing the technology itself is a necessary component of most ITSM solutions, it is not a 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:

Traditional I/T	becomes	ITSM Process
Technology focus	è	Process focus
“Fire-fighting”	è	Preventative
Reactive	è	Proactive
Users	è	Customers
Centralized, done in-house	è	Distributed, sourced
Isolated, silos	è	Integrated, enterprise-wide
“One off”, adhoc	è	Repeatable, accountable
Informal processes	è	Formal best practices
IT internal perspective	è	Business perspective
Operational specific	è	Service orientation

ITSM General Methodology

 

ITSM or Information Technology Service Management refers to all managerial aspects of IT businesses. It includes models for IT Planning, Support, Delivery, Security and Infrastructure, and other provisions for better customer service. Customer satisfaction and business goals are at the core of ITSM success. The particulars laid under ITSM cover issues and expectations within organizations and meeting IT management deliverable.

ITSM methodology encompasses the following areas (the basic areas of ITIL):

• IT Service Support

  • Configuration Management– physical and logical perspective of the IT infrastructure and the IT services being provided
  • Change Management- standard methods and procedures for effective managing of all changes
  • Release Management- testing, verification, and release of changes to the IT environment
  • Incident Management- the day-to-day process that restores normal, acceptable service with a minimal impact on business
  • Problem Management- the diagnosis of the root causes of incidents in an effort to proactively eliminate and manage them
  • Service Desk (Function)– a function not a process, this provides a central point of contact between users and IT

• IT Service Delivery

  • Availability Management- optimize IT infrastructure capabilities, services, and support to minimize service outages and provide sustained levels of service to meet business requirements
  • IT Service Continuity- managing an organization’s capability to provide the necessary level of service following an interruption of service
  • Capacity Management- enables an organization to tactically manage resources and strategically plan for future resource requirements
  • Service Level Management- maintain and improve the level of service to the organization
  • Financial Management for IT Services- managing the costs associated with providing the organization with the resources needed to meet requirements

ITSM General Implementation

A typical high level overview of an ITSM implementation structure encompasses the following:

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 “road-map” that depicts how to get to the desired state from the current state
4. Determine the steps needed to execute the “road-map”

The ITSM implementation framework for each of the IT Service Delivery and Service Support areas listed above is 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 future desired state being able 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, guidelines, etc. and the level of complexity and sophistication of them
• Technology– total logical and physical technology infrastructure consisting of hardware, software, communication 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

Ref : http://www.itsm.info/solution.htm#implementation