19-06-2014, 04:21 PM
An Introductory Overview of ITIL® V3
An Introductory.pdf (Size: 646.33 KB / Downloads: 9)
Introduction
It has become increasingly recognized that information is the most important
strategic resource that any organization has to manage. Key to the collection,
analysis, production and distribution of information within an organization is
the quality of the IT Services provided to the business. It is essential that we
recognize that IT Services are crucial, strategic, organizational assets and
therefore organizations must invest appropriate levels of resource into the
support, delivery and management of these critical IT Services and the IT
systems that underpin them. However, these aspects of IT are often overlooked
or only superficially addressed within many organizations.
Key issues facing many of today’s senior Business Managers and IT Managers
What is IT Service Management
To understand what service management is, we need to understand what
services are, and how service management can help service providers to deliver
and manage these services.
A service is a means of delivering value to customers by
facilitating outcomes customers want to achieve without the
ownership of specific costs and risks.
A simple example of a customer outcome that could be facilitated by an IT
service might be: “Sales people spending more time interacting with
customers” facilitated by “a remote access service that enables reliable access
to corporate sales systems from sales people’s laptops”.
What is ITIL
ITIL is a public framework that describes Best Practice in IT service
management. It provides a framework for the governance of IT, the ‘service
wrap’, and focuses on the continual measurement and improvement of the
quality of IT service delivered, from both a business and a customer
perspective. This focus is a major factor in ITIL’s worldwide success and has
contributed to its prolific usage and to the key benefits obtained by those
organizations deploying the techniques and processes throughout their
organizations. Some of these benefits include
Service Strategy
The service strategy of any service provider must be grounded upon a
fundamental acknowledgement that its customers do not buy products, they
buy the satisfaction of particular needs. Therefore, to be successful, the services
provided must be perceived by the customer to deliver sufficient value in the
form of outcomes that the customer wants to achieve.
Achieving a deep understanding of customer needs, in terms of what these
needs are, and when and why they occur, also requires a clear understanding of
exactly who is an existing or potential customer of that service provider. This,
in turn, requires the service provider to understand the wider context of the
current and potential market places that the service provider operates in, or
Demand Management
Demand management is a critical aspect of service management. Poorly
managed demand is a source of risk for service providers because of
uncertainty in demand. Excess capacity generates cost without creating value
that provides a basis for cost recovery.
The purpose of Demand Management is to understand and influence customer
demand for services and the provision of capacity to meet these demands. At a
strategic level this can involve analysis of patterns of business activity and user
profiles. At a tactical level it can involve use of differential charging to
encourage customers to use IT services at less busy times.
A Service Level Package (SLP) defines the level of utility and warranty for a
Service Package and is designed to meet the needs of a pattern of business
activity.
Service Operation
The purpose of Service Operation is to deliver agreed levels of service to users
and customers, and to manage the applications, technology and infrastructure
that support delivery of the services.
It is only during this stage of the lifecycle that services actually deliver value to
the business, and it is the responsibility of Service Operation staff to ensure
that this value is delivered.
It is important for Service Operation to balance conflicting goals:
internal IT view versus external business view
stability versus responsiveness
quality of service versus cost of service
reactive versus proactive activities