tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75159015354752470722024-03-05T16:27:22.569+08:00The IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT (ITSM) OASISTips, Gotchas and Information sharing for all who are learning ITIL and/or are on the IT Service Management(ITSM) implementation journey.Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-21054552185223091132012-03-10T13:29:00.001+08:002012-03-10T13:29:17.397+08:00Demand Manager (Revisited)<p> </p> <p>In one of my <a href="http://askme4itsm.blogspot.com/2011/04/demand-manager.html" target="_blank">previous post on Demand Manager</a> , I mentioned that there is no specific Demand Manager role mentioned in the ITIL Service Strategy book. The main activities of demand management are performed by the role of Business Relationship Manager (BRM). </p> <p>Well, that has changed with the latest revision of ITIL. Demand Manager is now a role specifically described in the ITIL 2011 version of Service Strategy book. In fact, 2 roles for this process. The Demand Management Process Owner role and Demand Management Process Manager (or Demand Manager) roles.</p> <p>The Demand Management <strong>Process Owner</strong> role is similar to generic process owner role for each ITIL processes, pluses the responsibility to work with other process owners to ensure there is an integrated approach to the design and implementation of demand management. </p> <p>The <strong>Demand Manager</strong> role includes the following responsibilities:</p> <p>•Identifies and analyses patterns of business activity to understand the levels of demand that will be placed on a service ** </p> <p>•Defines and analyses user profiles to understand the typical profiles of demand for services from different types of user ** </p> <p>•Helps design services to meet the patterns of business activity and the ability to meet business outcomes (work with other process managers and owners especially those related to Service Design)</p> <p>•Ensures (works with Capacity Manager) that adequate resources are available at the appropriate levels of capacity to meet the demand for services, thus maintaining a balance between the cost of service and the value that it achieves.  </p> <p>•Anticipates and prevents or manages situations where demand for a service exceeds the capacity to deliver it. <a href="http://askme4itsm.blogspot.com/2010/11/approaches-to-control-or-influence.html" target="_blank">See this post</a>. </p> <p>•Gears the utilization of resources that deliver services to meet the fluctuating levels of demand for those services.</p> <p>** works with <i>BRM who is responsible to </i><b><i>validate</i></b><i> Patterns of Business Activities (PBA) and User Profile (UP) with the Customers. </i></p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-51740823299088279642011-07-29T23:24:00.010+08:002012-02-20T12:46:08.585+08:002011 edition (update) of ITIL V3<p>ITIL has undergone an extensive review project, and updated versions of the ITIL books are being released on 29 July 2011. The idea behind the whole ITIL ‘refresh’ is that the guidance becomes easier to navigate, learn, read, teach and implement. However, the ethos and original principles behind the ITILv3 framework will not be changing. The new release will be referred to officially as the “2011 edition of ITIL”, while the previous version is known as the “2007 edition of ITIL”. </p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Some changes are:</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><ul><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li>ITIL Service Strategy now contains the newly defined process of strategy management for IT services.</li><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li>Business relationship management and demand management are now covered as processes in Service Strategy.</li><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li>The ‘design coordination’ process has been added to Service Design.</li><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li>The evaluation process has been renamed ‘change evaluation’ within Service Transition.</li><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li>Service Operation now contains an explanation on how basic events flow into filters and rule engines.</li><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><li>The concept of a continual service improvement register has been introduced.</li></ul><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>You can now pre-order the 2011 edition of the ITIL books for delivery shortly after 29 July 2011 from the <a href="http://www.itgovernance.co.uk/products/3422?kbid=104009" target="_blank">IT Governance online store</a> in various formats.</p><br />VYKGYKWU4JNGOdinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-62022742337548928032011-06-15T12:11:00.001+08:002011-06-15T12:12:56.880+08:00V1 or V2 Service Managers wishing to reach ITIL Expert certification<p>Following withdrawal of the <b>ITIL V3 Manager Bridge certificate </b>the bridging option available to holders of the <b>ITIL V1 or V2 Service Manager certificate </b>has changed.  To reach ITIL Expert certification, holders of V1 or V2 Service Manager certification can now take selected V3 Intermediate modules to reach ITIL Expert Level.</p> <p>In order to reach ITIL Expert Level, holders of the Service Manager certificate must successfully complete the following certifications:</p> <p>V3 Foundation Certification in IT Service Management</p> <p><b>PLUS</b></p> <p>Service Strategy <b>OR </b>Continual Service Improvement ( ITIL V3 Intermediate Lifecycle Modules)</p> <p><b>PLUS</b></p> <p>Managing Across The Lifecycle (MALC)</p> <p>This Bridging route will only be available to holders of the full ITIL V1 or V2 Service Managers Certification (both Service support and Service Delivery components).</p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-6774324757137723202011-04-06T16:31:00.001+08:002012-03-10T13:31:21.751+08:00Demand Manager<p>I received an email from a former student who was previously in my V2 Manager class asking me if there is such a role called a Demand Manager in ITIL V3. Apparently he was sitting for an V3 ITIL Intermediate examination and somehow came across this term. </p> <p>In ITIL V3, Demand Management process is described in the Service Strategy book. There is no specific “Demand Manager” role mentioned in this book. The main activities of demand management are performed by the role of Business Relationship Manager (BRM). The role of BRM may be known by other names in various organisations e.g. Account Manager, Business Representatives, Sales Representatives/Manager, Client Relationship Manager. Whatever the name that is used, the key focus of the person holding such role is on the Customer. </p> <p>The BRM needs to understand the Customer’s business activities and how they drive the demand for IT services. Pattern of Business Activities (PBA) define dynamics of a business i.e. business activities, flow of resources, coordination, and interactions. It includes interactions with customers, suppliers, partners and other stakeholders. User Profiles (UP) communicate information on the roles, responsibilities, interactions, schedules, work environments and social context of related users. In Demand Management, the BRM documents these information (Pattern of Business Activities and User Profiles) and works with the IT Service Provider team to serve the demand with appropriately matched services, service levels, and service assets. The BRM needs to understand Customer’s business outcomes and ensures that the service offerings in the service catalogue are able to fulfil these outcomes. New or enhanced services may be required to address un-served or underserved demand.</p> <p>Demand Management is closely related to Service Portfolio Management. As part of Service Portfolio Management, the BRM (who represents the Customers) works closely with the Product Managers (who represents the Service Providers) to define new or enhanced services to address these un-served or under-served demand. This includes working with the Product Managers in the development of the business cases for new or enhanced services, with the Product Managers taking the lead.</p> <p>There will be situation where service capacity is limited or cannot be changed in a given period. Hence, the service provider may have to adopt approaches to control or influence the demand of the services. See <a href="http://askme4itsm.blogspot.com/2010/11/approaches-to-control-or-influence.html">previous post</a>.</p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-16365756258914441492010-11-29T16:20:00.001+08:002010-11-29T16:20:32.260+08:00Approaches to control or influence the demand of the services<p>The ITIL V3 definition of Demand Management describes activities that involves understanding and influencing customer’s demand for services and the provision of cost justifiable capacity to meet these demands via Capacity Management</p> <p>Unlike physical goods, services cannot be stored in a warehouse to be sold or consumed later. Hence there is a strong need to balance between providing services “just in time” to match the demand of these services. Some spare capacity may be needed but providing too much excess service capacity would just goes to waste and it would be difficult to recover the cost of these excesses or justify for them in the first place.. However, providing insufficient capacity is also just as bad as it would often leads to poor service performance leading to customer dissatisfaction. Therefore, a balance between supply and demand is desired but not always achievable.</p> <p>There will be situation where service capacity is limited or cannot be changed in a given period. Hence, the service provider would have to adopt approaches to control or influence the demand of the services. The following approaches can be considered.</p> <p>The most frequently used method to use to the <b><u>price mechanism</u></b>. Service providers can choose to charge a higher or premium price during peak periods and be discounted during off-peak periods. Good examples of such differential pricing can be seen in the cinemas, travel industry or even in the electronic road-pricing scheme in Singapore. However, using price mechanism is only possible if the service provider is charging for services, especially on a pay per use basis.  </p> <p>Another method would be to impose <strong><u>access control, restrictions or quotas</u></strong>. In the old days of the mainframe computing, we often set session limits to control the maximum number of concurrent user logins. I have seen shops or even theme parks imposing queue controls and entry restrictions to limit the number of customers in a given premises so that those who managed to enter can enjoy a pleasant  experience rather than to endure poor service. </p> <p>A low cost and effective method that is sometimes overlooked would be through <b><u>communication to the customers</u></b>. Using persuasion and open communication to influence customers’ arrival rates can be effective when service providers are not charging for services. For example, a notice or letter to customers informing them of the peak periods and expected queuing times during peak and off-peak periods can shift the demand patterns. </p> <p>Finally, management could be called upon to impose <b><u>access control policies and guidelines on usage of services</u></b> with limited capacity to ensure only those who need them critically are served first. </p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-46848710995124207952010-08-16T10:47:00.001+08:002010-08-16T10:54:50.515+08:00Average pass rate of ITIL V3 exams<p>For those who are planning or actually preparing to sit for an ITIL V3 examination, you may be interested to know what the average passing rate for each examination is. </p> <p>Following are some statistics on the average pass rate of ITIL V3 exams: </p> <table border="2" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="468"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"><strong><font size="1">ITIL v3 Examination</font></strong></td> <td valign="top" width="138"><strong><font size="1">Average % Pass Rate</font></strong></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"><font size="1"><b>Foundation</b> </font></td> <td valign="top" width="138"><b><font size="1">87</font></b></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"><font size="1"><b>Foundation</b><b> Bridge</b><b> </b></font></td> <td valign="top" width="138"><b><font size="1">90</font></b></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"><font size="1"><b>Managers</b><b> Bridge</b> </font></td> <td valign="top" width="138"><b><font size="1">69</font></b></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"><b><font size="1">Intermediate - Lifecycle Modules</font></b></td> <td valign="top" width="138"><font size="1"> </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"><font size="1">Service Strategy<b> (SS)</b> </font></td> <td valign="top" width="138"><b><font size="1">75.2</font></b></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"> <p align="left"><font size="1">Service Design<b> (SD)</b> </font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="138"><b><font size="1">76.2</font></b></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"><font size="1">Service Transition<b> (ST)</b></font></td> <td valign="top" width="138"><b><font size="1">63.6</font></b></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"> <p align="left"><font size="1">Service Operation<b> (SO)</b></font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="138"><b><font size="1">78.6</font></b></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"> <p align="left"><font size="1">Continual Service Improvement<b> (CSI)</b> </font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="138"><b><font size="1">54.4</font></b></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"><font size="1"><b>Intermediate - Capability Modules</b></font></td> <td valign="top" width="138"><font size="1"> </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"><font size="1">Service Offerings and Agreements <strong>(SOA)</strong> </font></td> <td valign="top" width="138"><b><font size="1">77</font></b></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"><font size="1">Release Control and Validation<b> (RCV)</b> </font></td> <td valign="top" width="138"><b><font size="1">80.2</font></b></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"><font size="1">Planning, Protection and Optimization<b> (PPO)</b> </font></td> <td valign="top" width="138"><b><font size="1">82.8</font></b></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"><font size="1">Operational Support and Analysis<b> (OSA)</b> </font></td> <td valign="top" width="138"><b><font size="1">80</font></b></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="326"><b><a href="http://www.itilnews.com/ITIL_Version_3_Expert_Certificate_Managing_Across_the_Lifecycle_Certificate.html"></a><font size="1">Managing Across the Life Cycle (MALC)</font></b><font size="1"> </font></td> <td valign="top" width="138"><b><font size="1">57.8</font></b></td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p>Source: <a href="http://www.itilnews.com/index.php?pagename=Average_Pass_Rates_for_ITIL_v3_Examinations">http://www.itilnews.com/index.php?pagename=Average_Pass_Rates_for_ITIL_v3_Examinations</a></p> <p>These numbers are indicative only and would change over time. I suspect it will also vary across countries since command of the English language plays an important play in whether you understood the scenarios, questions and answers.</p> <p>The English language can often be ambiguous and that can often leads students to misinterpret the questions and/or the answers. This is especially harsh for the Managers Bridge examination where you need to score 16 correct answers out of 20 questions. There is not much margin for such errors.  </p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-18298778546789857882010-06-03T13:20:00.001+08:002010-06-03T13:20:38.557+08:00Using Auto-discovery Tools with Configuration Management Database (CMDB)<p>Auto-discovery tools refer to a set of tools that collects data on a network and records any changes made to the assets.  For example, HP’s Network Node Manager is able to discover all equipment connected to a TCP/IP network using the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). Desktop management tools may be able to collect information about Windows-based devices using interfaces like Microsoft’s Windows Management Interface (WMI). In any case, the auto-discovery function is just one of the many functions of these tools. You will not probably buy these tools just for this function but if you have tools with such capabilities, why not use them to support Configuration Management? So when and how to use such tools?</p> <p>During the Identification phase of the Configuration Management process where you need to populate data into our new CMDB, you will need to capture relevant information of the assets and Configuration Items. Auto-discovery tools are useful to get an initial inventory list of the assets or Configuration Items (CI) in your IT environment.  They can also capture relevant attributes of the asset or CI that you need. Do not load the data from the auto-discovery tools into the CMDB right away.</p> <p>The auto-discovery tools should be able to produce a report, spreadsheet or CSV file with the information that you need for your CMDB. In any case, you may still cleanse or transform the data before loading them into the CMDB.  Different tools may produce different or conflicting information and some reformatting may be needed. Cleansing and transformation is best done manually and may need some consultation with the CI owners to validate conflicting data or information produced by the tools. Once you are happy with the data, do the CMDB loading. Your CMDB tool would typically offer a feature or interfaces for reading the data off a spreadsheet or CSV file for loading purpose.</p> <p>Some tools users or vendors may advocate that the auto-discovery tools be closely linked to the CMDB and daily updates of the output from the tools into the CMDB be done during the normal day to day operations or Monitoring phase of the Configuration Management process.  This is NOT a good idea. What happens when an unauthorised change happens? The auto-discovery tool will just pick up the new unauthorised asset and the information gets updated into the CMDB. Not a good thing since the CMDB is supposed to maintain information of all authorised and approved changes. The CMDB should maintain a definitive state of the authorised or baseline configuration.</p> <p>A better way is to use the auto-discovery tools to generate a report that shows the <em>actual </em>list of assets and their attributes deployed in the IT environment. This report can be compared against a similar report of <em>authorised </em>assets produced from the CMDB. Any discrepancies between the <em>actual </em>against the <em>authorised</em> (signalling a potential failure in the Release, Change and Configuration Management processes) can then be detected and appropriate corrective actions taken. This procedure can be automated if possible, so you get an exception report each day or each week.</p> <p>Similarly, the above procedure can be used during the regular Audit or Verification activities in the Configuration Management process.</p> <p>In any case, most auto-discovery tools cannot fully replace the manual and disciplined monitoring and control activities that need to be in place. The tools would not be able to produce good reports on the CI relationships which is an important area in Configuration Management. They are also limited in their scope and reach(i.e. those that can discover network configuration, may not be able to discover desktops configuration or applications and vice versa)</p> <p>Nevertheless,  auto-discovery tools can help the Configuration Manager by reducing the effort involved in the CMDB set up, day-to-day monitoring, regular audits and verification. They should be used where feasible, and used correctly.</p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-37055594310760226302010-03-31T19:17:00.001+08:002010-03-31T19:17:14.907+08:00Considerations for outsourcing the Definitive Software Library (V2) or Definitive Media Library (V3)<p>In ITIL V2 defines the Definitive Software Library (DSL) as a secure software library containing master copies of all versions of live software in their definitive, quality controlled form. In ITIL V3, this is extended to also include software licenses, scripts and object codes and documentation and it is known as the Definitive Media Library (DML).</p> <p>When you are considering the above, you are basically trying to make a decision to “BUY” or “BUILD”.</p> <p>Some of the generic considerations that applies to the above are:</p> <ul> <li>Availability of existing in-house processes and procedures, tools. Maturity of existing Configuration, Change and Release Management processes, including the availability of Configuration Management System (CMS) and Configuration Management Database (CMDB), documentation, defined roles and responsibilities. </li> <li>Availability of existing people with necessary skills and knowledge to set up and operate a DSL, including the supporting procedures and tools. </li> <li>Setting up an integrated Change, Release Configuration management processes with the associated CMDB and DSL/DL takes time. It may be easier and faster to outsource the building and day to day operation and maintenance of the DSL/DML to an established provider. </li> <li>A DSL would be storing your master copies of software, source codes, media and licenses. In some cases, intellectual property (IP) and security of know-how within the organisation needs to be properly protected. Outsourcing of the DSL to an external party may means the risk of losing such IP and know-how. This could also be against existing policies or regulations. </li> <li>A DSL needs to be set up in a secured physical location. Availability of such locations within the organisation is also a consideration. </li> <li>As the DSL would needs to be accessed during the Change and Release process by the implementers, the frequency and ease of such access would be an factor. If the organisation does internal application or software development, it means that frequent and easy access to the DSL would be needed. It may not be practical to outsource the DSL and have it managed by a external vendor in an offsite location </li> <li>As in any outsourcing, one of the advantage is that internal IT staff can focus on their core business and leave the day-to-day operation of the DSL to the third party. However, high level of management attention and focus may be needed in the beginning to ensure that the third party is meeting contractual obligations. </li> <li>Finally, cost will be an important factor. Outsourcing can be considerably cheaper if the vendor can enjoy economies of scale and passes the savings to their customer. </li> </ul> <p>The following considerations are extracted from ITIL V3 Service Support book:</p> <p>- Does the activity requires assets that are highly specialized such that these assets may be idle or obsolete if that activity is no longer performed? If yes, then outsource.</p> <p>- How frequently is the activity performed frequently or sporadically within a period or business cycle? If sporadic, then outsource.</p> <p>- How complex is the activity? Is it simple and routine? Is it stable over time with few changes? It is difficult to outsource complex, non-routine activity. If your environment is chaotic, outsourcing it will not solve the issues, it will only make it worse.  </p> <p> <p></p> - Is the activities tightly coupled with other activities or assets in the business? If yes, then outsourcing and separating it would increase complexity and cause problems of coordination. </p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-82178615435821072872010-02-07T17:12:00.001+08:002010-02-07T17:12:37.836+08:00Thinking of outsourcing your Service Desk? What are the key considerations?<p>When you are considering the above, you are basically trying to make a decision to “BUY” or “BUILD” the service desk. In some cases, you may already have a operational Service Desk but outsourcing the function may still be considered.</p> <p>Some of the generic considerations that applies to the above are:</p> <ul> <li>Availability of existing in-house processes and procedures, tools. Maturity of existing Incident and Service Request Management processes, including the availability of  Configuration Management System and CMDB, documentation, defined roles and responsibilities. </li> <li>Availability of existing people with necessary skills and knowledge to set up and operate a Service Desk, including the supporting procedures and tools. </li> <li>Setting up a Service Desk, with an integrated Incident, Problem, Change and Configuration Management processes with the associated CMDB and knowledge database takes time. It may be easier and faster to outsource the above to an established provider. </li> <li>In some cases, intellectual property (IP) and security of know-how within the organisation needs to be properly protected. Outsourcing of the Service Desk to an external party may risk the breach of information security, privacy and confidentiality of information. This could be against existing policies or regulations. </li> <li>As in any outsourcing, one of the advantage is that internal IT staff can focus on their core business and leave the day-to-day operation of the Service Desk to the third party. However, high level of management attention and focus may be needed in the beginning to ensure that the third party is meeting contractual obligations. </li> <li>The Service Desk is an important touch point by IT to its customers/users. One danger of outsourcing the Service desk to a third party vendor is that vendors may be primarily driven by profits, and less focused on delivering a good customer experience. </li> <li>Vendor may have limited knowledge of the internal services, application and culture. This takes time to acquire. So, effectiveness and efficiency plus ability to deliver customer-focused, personalised service may be limited at the beginning. </li> <li>Finally, cost will be an important factor. Outsourcing to a third party can be considerably cheaper if the third party vendor can enjoy economies of scale and passes the savings to their customer. </li> </ul> <p>All the above are some valid considerations and there will be other specific factors to consider that are unique and dependent on each organisation’s business needs and strategy. The decision should fit into your overall IT delivery strategy which should be aligned to and/or supportive of the overall business plans.</p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-66085950677911983822010-01-26T11:18:00.001+08:002012-02-02T13:41:45.216+08:00More ITIL Intermediate Examination Taking Tips<p>I have earlier shared some <a href="http://askme4itsm.blogspot.com/2008/11/taking-itil-v3-intermediate-exams.html" target="_blank">ITIL Intermediate Examination Taking Tips in an earlier post</a>. This is an updated post.</p> <p><strong>PRE-EXAMINATION PREPARATION</strong></p> <p>•Study hard but rest well the day before.  Get to the examination venue ahead of time.</p> <p>•Relax a little and be calm. By the time you get to the examination you will have had the best possible preparation. This is especially if you had signed for ITIL Intermediate courses with a certified and authorised training center.</p> <p>•Read and be sure to follow the notes for candidates on the front of the examination paper.</p> <p><strong>TAKING THE EXAMINATION</strong></p> <p>Since time is short and there is a lot of reading and analysis to do within the 90 minutes given, I suggest the following approach to tackling each Question.</p> <p><strong>Time Management</strong></p> <p>•Don't spend more than 11 minutes per question. </p> <p>•There is a lot to read - 1 page scenario and 4 possible answers (1 paragraph per answer). </p> <p>•If you feel you are struggling with a particular question, SKIP it first (especially the first one). Come back to it later if you have time at the end. You can still pass the examination if you have answered the remaining 7 questions well. </p> <p><strong>Reading the Scenarios and Questions and Answers</strong></p> <p>There will be two booklets issued – a Scenario booklet and a Question booklet.</p> <p>•Start by making sure you got the right Scenario for that Question! The Scenario to use is stated above the Question in the Question booklet. <em>Sometimes a scenario can be used for more than one question!</em> </p> <p>•Quickly <u><em>browse</em> through the <em>Question </em>first </u>(not the Scenario!). This will <em>give you</em> <em>a sense of what to look for when reading the case study scenario</em>. </p> <ul> <li>Is the question focusing on <em>processes, roles and responsibilities, tools or implementation approach</em>? </li> <li>Which Service Management <em>process area</em>? </li> <li>What is your <em>role</em> in the scenario? </li> </ul> <p>•Then read the scenario or case study. </p> <p><strong>Reading the Scenario or Case Study</strong> </p> <p>•Underline or highlight keywords or phrases. </p> <p>•Underline or highlight <em><u>issues</u></em> in the case study. Often the answers will need to address these issues and the <em>best answer is the one that addresses all or most of the issues</em>. </p> <p>•Underline the <em><u>business needs and company objectives/priorities/policies</u></em>. Often the <em>best answer will need to be aligned with these</em>. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9-vlHN9AcNNJGnNl0COpK0U22tg656xI5InmwE-x6fL5zLwf5sCa3ESY8kN4vL-m73WET2lxyBr8I6R6uXme-eWFyVXG34LC3KFb16DKN1hVsVpr2WWPdUqu5hhsweZU-Z5MyIVvzx2s/s1600-h/P1020564%5B12%5D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="ITIL Intermediate Examination Taking Tips" border="0" alt="ITIL Intermediate Examination Taking Tips using colour markers may help" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ugY7UR9Qk9v6Qu2YVH7L3cyKNwXkiRbpaYwRFDQBtDe-2zWtzmbo96TDCDpf5veyFyrDpz18N-vBPSAw_allTpNdPi9gtjphM-v_jXc85Vw309BxukRHMPNhNqQWuiQUCXUYQCJbir0/?imgmax=800" width="522" height="394" /></a> </p> <p>•Colour markers may help. I gave my students a set of markers with yellow, orange and green colour for use in mock examinations (and also actual examinations). Use the green colour highlighter to highlight good points, orange to highlight issues and yellow to highlight business needs, priorities, policies, goals and objectives that needs to be fulfilled.</p> <p><strong>Choosing the BEST answer</strong></p> <p>To pass this examination, you need to focus on choosing the BEST answer for each question. You risk failing the examinations if you do not have more than 5 BEST answers to the 8 questions asked. Getting the second best answer is NOT good enough! 2 marks may be all it takes to fail or pass your examination.</p> <p>• Eliminate the obvious wrong answer(s) first, so as to focus your time on the best 2 answers shortlisted. If you can, pick out the distractor answer first, upon first pass through the 4 answers. </p> <p>•Use process of elimination to further narrow down the answers to the final 2 or final one. </p> <p>•Differentiating between the best and second best answers may require you to<em> read the Question and Answers again and again</em>. Do it within the time limit allocated. </p> <p>•Each Answer may be make up by a few statements. As you read each statement, <em>“Score" the answer using a series of + and – or even a ?</em> (if you are unsure). Often, you will find the BEST answer is the one with the all pluses (or ?) and no minuses.  Or use your colour markers. Green for good or correct statements, Orange for not so good or incorrect statements.</p> <p>• “Spot the Difference” – sometimes, a minor difference in one of the sentence in the Answer is the key between the best and second best.</p> <p>•Generic vs Specific Answers - Read the Question and understand what the Question is seeking to test you. </p> <p>• Sometimes, the generic answer containing all the right ITIL statements may seems like the best answer BUT if the question asked for "<i>your </i><i>recommendation," "what specific actions would you take,"</i>  then the Generic answer may not be the best answer. Also, if your role is that of a consultant, specific answers or solutions to solve <strong>issues</strong> highlighted in the case study would be the better answer. Remember the colour markers?</p> <p>•Underline or highlight keywords in the Answers, if appropriate. You should look for the Answer that is more specifically related to the case study or scenario.<b><u> </u></b>i.e. addresses issues and objectives (as mentioned earlier). </p> <p>•In general, Choose Answers that are </p> <ul> <li>Based on ITIL </li> <li>Customer focused - Think Business before IT, Customer before IT </li> <li>Focused on improving Quality, mitigating Risk, reducing cost etc. </li> <li>Based on systematic approach, not “cowboy” or “shooting from the hip” or gung-ho type of answers. </li> </ul> <p>Good luck and hopefully the above tips will help you score a few more marks in your examination.</p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-91041376573817967582010-01-13T11:53:00.001+08:002010-01-13T11:53:22.153+08:00Comparing and Contrasting Availability Management and IT Service Continuity Management<p><strong></strong></p> <p><strong>Similarities</strong></p> <p>•Both processes are <u>concerned with Risk and Risk Management</u>. Both will need to perform risk analysis to determine threats and vulnerability that will affect availability of services and what the It Service provider could do to manage, mitigate or reduce the risks. Both may use CRAMM as a technique to <u>analyse risk</u>. </p> <p>•Both aims to build <u>resilience</u> in the IT Services and IT Infrastructure. Resilience refers to the  ability to “bounce back” from failure or tolerance to failures. Both works towards ability to <u>recover services quickly to meet agreed service levels, documented in a Service Level Agreement (SLA)</u>. </p> <p>•Both are concerned with the ability to <u>meet business needs and goals, including any regulatory </u><u>requirements. </u></p> <p>•Both are conscious of <u>need to balance between cost and effectiveness</u> of proposed solutions. </p> <p>• Hence, both are focused or <u>concerned with IT services that support vital business services or </u><u>processes</u>. Both would also need to determine which are the vital business functions or services and what are the impact of their outages. Both are <u>concerned with the cost </u><u>and impact of service outages</u>.  and would perform Business Impact Analysis (BIA) to <u>analyse business </u><u>impact should a IT service failed</u>. </p> <p><strong>Differences</strong></p> <p>• Differences in scale </p> <p>IT Service Continuity Management (ITSCM) looks at large, high profile failures, Availability Management (AM) is concerned with <em>any</em> service outages. ITSCM usually does not cover minor disruptions or faults. </p> <p>• Differences in impact and timescales</p> <p>ITSCM concentrates on major or total loss of systems for long durations. This is typically in the event of <u>disaster or crisis scenario</u>.  Availability Management would be interested in partial or single component failures that are likely to have more limited impact and shorter durations.</p> <p>• Differences in measures and metrics</p> <p>AM is concerned with Availability, Serviceability, Reliability, Maintainability and security of the IT services based on SLA during <u>normal operational scenarios</u> and within the agreed service time.</p> <p>ITSCM is concerned with ability and time to recover vital business services on time (Recovery Time Objectives or RTO) and amount of data or services that will be recovered (Recovery Point Objectives or RPO) during <u>disaster or crisis scenarios</u>.</p> <p><em></em></p> <p><em>There could be other similarities or differences. Do feel free to leave your comments or add to the list above.</em></p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-33936831176563090092009-12-01T14:57:00.001+08:002009-12-01T14:57:34.072+08:00Does a Change Advisory Board (CAB) authorises Changes?<p>Those new to ITIL will often think that the role of the CAB is to authorise Changes, especially the major or significant changes. Well, yes and no.</p> <span class="fullpost"> <p>The Change Advisory Board (CAB) is a concept defined in ITIL V2 and V3’s Change Management process and is a body that exists to <strong>support</strong> the authorization of changes and to <strong>assist</strong> Change Management in the assessment and prioritization of changes.  The CAB is usually consulted for significant changes that have a broad or major impact to the organisation. The CAB may be asked to consider and <strong>recommend </strong>the adoption or rejection of changes appropriate for higher level authorization and then recommendations will be submitted to the appropriate Change Authority.</p> <p>Similar in concept to the CAB is the Emergency Change Advisory Board (ECAB). This is done as part of the Emergency Change procedure which is used to process a change request related to fixing an error in the IT infrastructure that has major impact to the business if it is not fixed quickly, hence the Emergency Change. An ECAB is necessarily formed since there is often not enough time to convene a normal and larger scale CAB meeting.  </p> <p>So, who authorises changes? ITIL defines the role of Change Authority that, as the name stated, authorises change. This is a <strong>role</strong> that may be given to a person (e.g. Change Manager, department manager) or a group of people (e.g. CAB or ECAB). The levels of authorization for a particular type of change should be determined by the type, size or risk of the change. A major or significant change in a large enterprise that affects several distributed sites may need to be authorized by a higher-level Change Authority such as the Board of Directors. A lesser change with limited scope and impact to the business or IT infrastructure may be authorised by a person. A simple, low risk change may even be pre-approved or pre-authorised.</p> <p>Figure 4.5 in the ITIL V3 Service Transition book is misleading when taken out of context and often leads a reader to wrongly believe that the CAB or ECAB’s role is to authorise Change. That figure only shows an example where the CAB or ECAB is given the role as a Change Authority.</p> <p>In summary, a CAB or ECAB’s main role is an <strong>advisory one</strong>, which is to support and assist the Change Authority in making to decision as to whether a request for change should be approved or rejected. The CAB or ECAB does not authorise a Change unless they are specifically given the role as a Change Authority as well.</p> </span> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-22944901929232886482009-11-24T10:40:00.001+08:002009-11-24T22:56:16.084+08:00Understanding Configuration Management System (CMS) and Configuration Management Database (CMDB) – Part 3<p>Supplier Management is the ITIL V3 process responsible for defining and maintaining the Supplier and Contracts Database (SCD), which is a database or structured Document used to manage supplier contracts throughout their lifecycle. The SCD contains key attributes of all contracts with suppliers, and should be part of the Configuration Management System (CMS), which is a subset of the overall Service Knowledge Management System (SKMS).</p> <span class="fullpost"> <p>As mentioned in my previous post, a CMDB is a database within a CMS. At the data level, the Configuration Management System (CMS) may take data from several physical CMDBs, which together constitute a federated CMDB. Other data sources will also plug into the CMS such as the definitive media libraries (DML). </p> <p>Ideally, a SCD (Supplier and Contracts Database) which stores information on supplier and contracts used in service management is also a database within the CMS. Relationship information between a Service to Suppliers of outsourced or externally supported components that supports that specific Service should be defined and captured in the CMS. In addition, the relationships between the Service, any Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Underpinning Contracts (UCs) linked to that Service ought to be captured as well. These information forms part of the Logical Configuration Model of that Service. Using this Logical Configuration Model, any Service Management staff can easily trace the components used to support the Service, related SLAs and contracts and also finds information about the related suppliers. </p> <p><em>Be careful of the inconsistency in the naming of the terms. A “gotcha” if you are taking the ITIL examinations. There is no “Supplier Management Information System” or SMIS, unlike the new ITIL V3 terms Availability Management Information System (AMIS) or Capacity Management Information System (CMIS) which are information systems used to support Availability Management and Capacity Management respectively. The information system to support Supplier Management is simply called SCD (like the old ITIL V2 Availability Database or ADB and Capacity Database or CDB). By the way, there is a SMIS in ITIL V3 but it stands for Security Management Information System.</em></p> </span> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-75864919170532561452009-11-07T16:04:00.001+08:002009-11-07T16:04:10.557+08:00Understanding Configuration Management System (CMS) and Configuration Management Database (CMDB) – Part 2<p><em></em></p> <p>Is the Service Portfolio and Service Catalogue part of the Configuration Management System (CMS) in ITIL V3? Yes.</p> <p>We can and should define a “Service” as a configuration item (CI) and build a logical configuration model  for the Service, i.e. linking the “Service” CI to the other components or CIs that supports the Service. Such logical configuration models are useful when handling incidents, solving problems, assessing impact of changes or developing a cost model for a service.</p> <p>Services are described using specification sheets (Service Specifications) and forms part of the Service Catalogue and Service Portfolio. Hence, the Service Specifications, Service Catalogue and Service Portfolio should be registered as controlled documents, subject to the Change Management process, and hence defined as CIs<strong> </strong>within the Configuration Management System (CMS). </p> <p>In actual implementation, the Service Catalogue may take the form of a matrix, table or spreadsheet. Some may even document their services in an intranet and present it in the form of web pages, with drill down capability to show greater details as required. The Service Catalogue can be viewed as a "database”, which forms part of a federated CMDB, containing detailed information and attributes of the Services and has linkages or relationships with other physical CMDBs within the CMS.</p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-33171983445843158142009-11-01T20:50:00.001+08:002009-11-07T16:06:11.640+08:00Announcement on ITIL V2 withdrawal<p>ITIL has formally announced the dates for the withdrawal of ITIL V2 certification. More details can be found in the link below:</p> <p><a title="http://www.exin-exams.com/content/news/ogc-announces-timeline-for-withdrawal-of-itil-v2.aspx" href="http://www.exin-exams.com/content/news/ogc-announces-timeline-for-withdrawal-of-itil-v2.aspx">http://www.exin-exams.com/content/news/ogc-announces-timeline-for-withdrawal-of-itil-v2.aspx</a></p> <p>For those hoping to pursue the ITIL Expert certification via the V2 Manager route, note that the V2 Manager certification examinations will be withdrawn on 31 August 2010 and the V2 to V3 Manager Bridge will be withdrawn on 30 June 2011. </p> <p>All of the above will be available for re-sits until 30 June 2011.</p> <p>Do sign up for the next <a href="http://www.itilcenter.com/?page_id=42" target="_blank">ITIL V2 Manager and V2 to V3 Bridge courses</a> before it is too late. </p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-9395054661167840582009-10-20T15:33:00.001+08:002009-11-24T10:43:30.552+08:00Understanding Configuration Management System (CMS) and Configuration Management Database (CMDB) – Part 1<p>In ITIL V2, the CMDB is described as a database that contains the <strong>relationships</strong> between all the system components, including Incidents, Problems, Known Errors, Changes and Releases. The CMDB also contains <strong>information </strong>about Incidents, Problems, Known Errors, corporate data about employees, suppliers, locations and business units. It also goes on to say that the CMDB is often used to store details of Services and relate them to the underlying components and may also be used to store contracts and licences. </p> <p>ITIL V2 seems to imply that a configuration management system is a set of tools used to support the Configuration Management activities.</p> <p>In ITIL V3, the definition of CMS and CMDB is slightly changed from that of ITIIL V2. According to the ITIL V3 Glossary:</p> <p>CMS = A <strong>set of tools AND databases</strong> that are used to <br />manage an IT Service Provider's Configuration data. The CMS also <br />includes information<strong> </strong>about Incidents, Problems, Known Errors, Changes <br />and Releases; and may contain data about employees, Suppliers, <br />locations, Business Units, Customers and Users. The CMS includes <br />tools for collecting, storing, managing, updating, and presenting data <br />about all Configuration Items and their Relationships. The CMS is <br />maintained by Configuration Management and is used by all IT Service <br />Management Processes. </p> <p>CMDB = A <strong>database </strong>used to store Configuration Records <br />throughout their Lifecycle. The Configuration Management System <br />maintains one or more CMDBs, and each CMDB stores Attributes of Configuration Items (CIs), and Relationships with other CIs. </p> <p>In other words, a CMDB is a database within a CMS. At the data level, the CMS may take data from several physical CMDBs, which together constitute a federated CMDB. Other data sources will also plug into the CMS such as the definitive media libraries (DML). A SCD (Supplier and Contracts Database) which stores information on supplier and contracts used in service management is also a database within the CMS and can be considered a CMDB.  A service catalogue is just a form of CMDB. </p> <p>According to the ITIL V3 books, the CMS maintains the <strong>relationship</strong>s between all service components and any related incidents, problems, known errors, change and release documentation and may also contain corporate data about employees, suppliers, locations and business units, customers and users.<a name="222"></a><a name="IDX-699F498CD4-94FC-42E1-B5DE-159E0FAC17"></a></p> <p>Relationships are the mechanism for associating RFCs, incident records, problem records, known errors and release records with the services and IT infrastructure CIs to which they refer. All these <strong>relationships</strong> should be included in the CMS. Request for Change (RFC) and change and release records will identify the CIs affected. </p> <p>What about the actual incident, problem, change and release records? Are the actual records stored in or forms part of the CMS? According to the ITIL Glossary, the CMS contains <strong>“information about”</strong> incident, problems, Known Errors and Releases.  </p> <p>I think actual incident, problem, change and release records should be considered as part of the CMS although the ITIL V3 Service Operation book does not explicitly mention about storing <strong>incident records</strong> in the CMS. However, it mentions that Problem Management uses the CMS to identify faulty CIs and also to determine the impact of problems and resolutions. The CMS can also be used to form the basis for the KEDB and hold <strong>or</strong> integrate with the Problem Records. This means CMS may or may not store Problem and Known Error records, but the <strong>relationships information</strong> should be captured in the CMS.</p> <p>The ITIL V3 Service Transition book does explicitly mention that the change and release records are stored within the CMS. </p> <ul> <li>As an RFC proceeds through its lifecycle, the change document, related records (such as work orders) and related configuration items are updated in the CMS, so that there is visibility of its status. Estimates and actual resources, costs and outcome (success or failure) are recorded to enable management reporting. </li> <li>Release information is recorded within the CMS, supporting the release and deployment process. </li> </ul> <p>In real-life implementations, off-the-shelf tools from vendors like HP (HP Service Center) and BMC (Remedy) provides an integrated toolset that contain integrated modules to support the Incident, Problem, Change and Configuration Management processes. It contains all incident, problem and known errors records with relationships and linkages to the services and CI details stored in a database. </p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-39943289664142117382009-10-12T15:59:00.001+08:002009-10-12T15:59:14.248+08:00Which ITIL processes include risk analysis and management activities?<p>There is often disagreement amongst the ITIL students (and also between ITIL trainers and practitioners) as to which ITIL processes include risk analysis and management activities. Of course, processes like Security Management, Change Management, Release & Deployment Management, Availability Management, Supplier Management and IT Service Continuity Management obviously include risk analysis and management activities. In some cases, they are explicitly mentioned in the ITIL books. </p> <p>What about other ITIL processes? These may not be so obvious. How do we answer such questions (samples below) if they should appear in ITIL examinations? </p> <p><em>Q1. Which of the following processes should include risk analysis and management activities? </em></p> <ol> <li><em>IT Service Continuity Management </em></li> <li><em>Information Security Management </em></li> <li><em>Incident Management </em></li> <li><em>Change Management </em></li> </ol> <p><em>a. 1, 2 and 4 </em></p> <p><em>b. 3 and 4 </em></p> <p><em>c. 1 and 2 </em></p> <p><em>d. All of the above </em></p> <span class="fullpost"> <p>Most of us would have selected (a) as the answer and I think this is probably the “best” or “obvious” answer. However, one could argue that Incident Management would include “risk analysis and management activities”. Examples, if there are two workarounds or potential solutions that could be used, Incident Management (or Service Desk staff) would have to analyse and consider which workaround or solution could potentially be more risky to use when restoring service. The question specifies “should include”. Hmm…, so maybe (d) is the correct answer. </p> <p><em>Q2. Which of these processes includes a need to carry out Risk Analysis and Management?</em></p> <ol> <li><em>1. IT Service Continuity Management </em></li> <li><em>2. Information Security Management </em></li> <li><em>3. Service Level Management </em></li> </ol> <p><em>a) All of the above </em></p> <p><em>b) 1 and 3 only </em></p> <p><em>c) 2 and 3 only </em></p> <p><em>d) 1 and 2 only</em></p> <p>Again, most (including myself) would have answered (d) since Service Level Management (SLM) does not have a <strong>direct</strong> <strong>need </strong>to perform risk analysis. But one could say that SLM would have to consider risks and uncertainty of outcomes during drafting and negotiation of SLAs. For example, SLM would need to consider the risks that Service Level requirements could not be met and hence should not be committed to. However, one could also say that such activities could be delegated to the other processes like Availability Management, Capacity Management, Security Management, Supplier Management and IT Service Continuity Management.</p> <p>So, should the answer be (a) or (d) in the questions above? </p> <p>In general, I think that any Process that includes some form of “PLANNING” or "ANALYSIS" as an activity ought to have included some form of <strong>risk analysis and management</strong> since we need to take into account the uncertainty of outcome and hence risk when doing any form of planning and analysis.  </p> <p>Which answers you pick in the ITIL examination would depends on how you interpret the question asked and whether you think this is a straight-forward question or a question to test your deeper understanding.</p> <p>Perhaps, such examination questions should have been better worded (or avoided) to reduce the <strong>risk</strong> that the students may have doubt about what the examiner is looking for.</p> </span> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-22872980624938250162009-09-17T15:51:00.001+08:002009-09-17T16:00:12.536+08:00ISMS vs SMIS. Are they the same?<p>I don’t think so. ISMS refers to the Information Security Management System and SMIS refers to the Security Management Information System.</p> <p>The SMIS is not formally defined in the ITIL V3 Glossary. However, the ISMS is. According the ITIL V3 Glossary, the <em><strong>“Information Security Management System (ISMS)</strong> describes the <strong>framework</strong> of Policy, Processes, Standards, Guidelines and tools that ensures an Organisation can achieve its Information Security Management Objectives.” </em></p> <p>ISO 27001 is the formal standard against which organizations may seek independent certification of their ISMS (meaning their frameworks to design, implement, manage, maintain and enforce information security processes and controls systematically and consistently throughout the organizations). </p> <p>From Section 4.6.8 of the Service Design book:</p> <p><em>“All the information required by Information Security Management (ISM) should be contained within the <strong>Security Management Information System (SMIS).</strong> This should include all security controls, risks, breaches, processes and reports necessary to support and maintain the Information Security Policy and the Information Security Management System (ISMS). This information should cover all IT services and components and needs to be integrated and maintained in alignment with all other IT information management systems, particularly the Service Portfolio and the CMS. The SMIS will also provide the input to security audits and reviews and to the continual improvement activities so important to all ISMSs. The SMIS will also provide invaluable input to the design of new systems and services.”</em> </p> <p>From the above, the SMIS is an <strong><em>Information System</em> </strong>to support the Information Security Management process, similar in concept to the  Availability Management Information System (AMIS) and the Capacity Management Information System (CMIS). </p> <p>Hence, they are not the same. SMIS is an information system and ISMS is a framework, for Information Security Management process.</p> <p>I think a formal definition of the SMIS should be included in the ITIL V3 Glossary. Also, Figure 4.27 in the Service Design book should refer to an SMIS (this was changed to ISMS in later release of the Service Design book). </p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-64343618449905091962009-09-10T13:12:00.001+08:002009-09-10T13:12:31.951+08:00More V3 traps for V2 folks<p>To add to my <a href="http://askme4itsm.blogspot.com/2008/11/v3-traps-for-itil-v2-folks.html" target="_blank">previous post</a> on the above topic, there are other gotchas that you need to be careful of when taking the ITIL V3 examinations, especially if you came with ITIL V2 background.</p> <p>In the Capacity Management process, the data and information used for supporting the process is now stored in a <strong>Capacity Management Information System (CMIS).</strong> In V2, it was called a <strong>Capacity Management Database (CDB). </strong>The ITIL V3 Glossary defines the CMIS as a virtual repository of all Capacity Management data, usually stored in multiple physical locations. The “multiple physical locations” could be “databases” or CBD in the ITIL V2 context.</p> <p>Similarly, for Availability Management, the data and information used for supporting the process is now stored in a <strong>Availability Management Information System (AMIS</strong>). In V2, it was called <strong>Availability Management Database (AMDB). </strong></p> <p>Both the AMIS and CMIS are part of the <strong>Service Knowledge Management System (SKMS)</strong>.</p> <p>So you would think that since there is a AMIS and CMIS for the Availability and Capacity Management processes respectively, there would be a Supplier Management Information System (SMIS) for the Supplier Management process. </p> <p>Gotcha! For those learning ITIL and sitting for ITIL V3 certification examinations, note that in the Supplier Management process, there is <strong>no</strong> Supplier Management Information System (SMIS) defined in ITIL V3. The data (e.g. supplier and contracts information, reports, supplier service improvement plans ) are stored in a <strong>Supplier and Contracts Database (SCD).</strong></p> <p>Confused?</p> <p>What about Configuration Management with its Configuration Management System and Configuration Management Database? I will cover this in the next post.</p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-43328624413402442622009-09-03T13:34:00.001+08:002013-07-19T15:17:58.165+08:00Criteria for Triggering an IT Escalation – some examples<p>"Escalation" is often mentioned when dealing with Incident and Problem Management processes. The ITIL Incident Management process talks about Hierarchical and Functional escalations. Hierarchical escalations are where higher management attention and additional resources are needed. Functional escalations are done when incidents are assigned to next level support personnel with greater expertise to work on them. Criteria for triggering such escalations are very much organisational dependent. The majority of escalations will be initiated from Incident Management and there are a number of triggers, both time and event based.</p> <p>Incident Management handles many incidents each month and only a very small percentage will require escalation. It is important that Incident Management adhere diligently to the triggers. Failure to do so may result in Customer anxiety and dissatisfaction. On the other hand, "false alarms" or "crying wolf" may lead to increased costs due to the additional attention and resources required to manage the Customer. </p> <p>Hence the criteria should be well-defined, documented and made known to the Service Desk, and other IT Support functions. These criteria could be embedded within support tools to help the support staff. The tool could also be used to control the process flow within agreed timescales for those escalations that are triggered due to prolonged service outages.</p> <p>Examples of reasons to initiate an escalation could include the following:</p> <span class="fullpost"> <ul> <li>A prolonged service outage that exceeds or threaten to exceed the Service Level Requirements or timeframe, leading to high customer anxiety or complaints. </li> <li>Frequently recurring or multiple related High Priority incidents where Priority is related to business impact and urgency. In situations like this, the Customer's confidence in the Service Provider would have been greatly impacted, not to mention the impact to the Customer's business. Hence, an escalation is called for to bring about management attention and also expertise to find the root cause and prevent future incidents. </li> <li>Management of a major Incident (part of Major Incident Procedure). Typically, a Major incident procedure would have included activities related to escalation or crisis management </li> <li>Management of a major Problem especially where impact to business is high and the assigned problem management team is taking too long to isolate the cause of the incidents. This could in turn cause other issues, such as high customer anxiety, recurring incidents and lost of Customer’s confidence in the Service Provider. </li> <li>Data loss or risk of potential data loss. Any loss of data has a significant impact on the Customer. For example, a disk storage system has malfunctioned, leading to a service outage. The customer's last backup was done yesterday and there is potential data loss if the right solution is not found. In situations like this, an escalation may be called for to ensure the right steps is done to repair the disk storage system and recover the data or ensure no data is lost. </li> <li>Risk of actual or potential damage to customer or provider's reputation </li> <li>Safety issue identified or reported by Customer </li> <li>Risk of breach or non-compliance of regulations e.g. industrial health or safety </li> <li>Customer's crisis situation or customer's anxiety is high and customer requests for escalation </li> <li>Common sense </li> </ul> The last one is a good one, as not all situations can be well foreseen! So, service staff needs to exercise judgement and common sense when it comes to triggering an escalation, even with a documented checklist or tool. When in doubt, check with a more experienced colleague or better still, check with the immediate supervisor. </span> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-8925793307717115102009-08-09T16:55:00.001+08:002009-08-09T17:01:27.486+08:00What is “Service Transition Pack” in ITIL Service Design book?<p>I was preparing some materials for my coming ITIL class and came across the term “Service Transition pack” in Chapter 8 of the Service Design book by OGC. It appears under section 8.51 – Pre-requisite for Success where “The design of the service will be impossible without the Service Portfolio and <strong><em>Service Transition Pack</em></strong>”. Also under section 8.5.2 – Critical Success Factors and Key Performance Indicators where the “Percentage of <strong><em>Service Transition pack</em></strong> completed on time” is one of the KPI listed for Service Design.</p> <p>Wondering what is ‘Service Transition Pack”, I checked up the ITIL V3 Glossary but it was not found there. A quick keyword search of the entire Service Design book did not give any definition of this term. Neither could I find a definition of these term in the Service Transition book.</p> <p>Hmm. Probably typo error. I think it could be referring to “Service Design Package”.</p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-18804902556023519082009-08-04T12:43:00.001+08:002009-08-06T19:30:56.990+08:00Importance of Having an Escalation Management process<p>"Escalation" is often mentioned when dealing with Incident and Problem Management processes. The ITIL Incident Management process talks about Hierarchical and Functional escalations but did not call out "Escalation Management" as a separate and important ITIL process within Service Operation.</p> <p>In my previous organisation, escalation management is well-defined and documented process. It is even handled or managed by a separate dedicated team of people. This "escalation center" function, called the Customer Escalation Center (CEC), works closely with the Service Desk function called the Response Center. It also supports the field or onsite support engineers who taking on maintenance and support roles.</p> <p>When I started out as a rookie service engineer in the Response Center, the knowledge that there is a team of experts which I can call upon to help out in major incidents or problems is often reassuring. The fact that the Response Center or an onsite technical or application support engineer has escalated a major incident or problem to the CEC and there is a team of experts attending to the escalated incident or problem is also reassuring to the Customer.</p> <p>Escalation Management is to bring order, structure, focused management attention and additional resources to those customer situations which could otherwise result in a high level of customer dissatisfaction and/or damage to the service provider’s reputation. These are situations which could lead to significant loss of business to the Customer or IT Service Provider or where significant costs may be incurred by IT Service Provider to resolve the customer situation. </p> <p>The criteria to trigger an escalation depends on the organisation or service provider. But it should be well defined. </p> <p>The process could consist of the following activities:</p> <span class="fullpost"> <p>· Initiate an Escalation, based on meeting specific escalation criteria</p> <p>· Assign an Escalation manager for the escalation</p> <p>· Log the Escalation and link the Escalation record to related Incident or Problem records</p> <p>· Escalation manager assigns or appoints the escalation team. The escalation team should include the Incident owner, Problem owner, and other subject matter experts, as required</p> <p>· Identify appropriate Service Provider and Customer management contacts</p> <p>· Conduct a detailed situation appraisal and review, led by the Escalation manager</p> <p>· An escalation management action plan, including additional resources needed, is developed in conjunction with the Customer. The escalation management plan is to be executed in parallel with the detailed technical action plan (as per Incident/Problem Management)</p> <p>· The escalation management action plan is reviewed and adjusted as required</p> <p>· A Hierarchical Escalation (as per Incident Management process) is initiated, if appropriate. Senior management and executives are alerted.</p> <p>· Escalation team works to resolve the problem. At each stage, records are updated and management contacts and team are informed of the progress and escalation plan reviewed and adjusted as required.</p> <p>· Once resolved to the Customer’s satisfaction, the situation is monitored for an agreed period</p> <p>· The escalation team remains on standby and available in case the problem recurs during the monitoring period</p> <p>· Once the monitoring period is successfully completed, the escalation is closed by the Escalation manager, after seeking agreement with the Customer </p> <p>· Once the escalation is closed, a post escalation review is conducted and input provided to the Problem Management process. This can be done in conjunction with the Major Problem Review which is part of Problem Management.</p> <p>As can be seen above, Escalation Management is closely related to and supports the Incident Management, Request Management and Problem Management processes. It is an important process that should be treated with equal or greater focus as compared to these other well-defined ITIL processes. </p> </span> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-43079043668018945262009-07-20T17:11:00.001+08:002009-07-20T17:11:10.745+08:00Why Not Take on Problem Management (as defined by ITIL) During The Economic Slowdown?<p>During period of rapid business growth, systems and processes quality may have been overlooked by many IT organisations as they would be focused on implementing new systems and rolling out new IT services as quickly as possible to keep up with the business expansion. </p> <p>With the current economic slowdown, many new projects and systems may be put on hold as company will be looking into measures to reduce cost and improve efficiency. These may mean that some staff may have less work assigned or made temporarily or permanently redundant. Instead of considering staff reduction, why not get these staff to work on Problem Management (as defined by ITIL) during the economic slowdown? Why not get them to work on systems and processes quality improvement that had been overlooked and long overdue?</p> <span class="fullpost"> <p>ITIL defines an "Incident" as any unplanned interruption to an IT service or reduction in the quality of an IT service and ITIL defines a "Problem" as the <b>cause</b> of one or more of those incidents. The primary objectives of taking on Problem Management are to prevent problems and resulting incidents from happening, to eliminate recurring incidents and to minimize the impact of incidents that cannot be prevented. </p> <p>Working on Problem Management means the staff will perform activities required to determine the root cause of incidents and to determine the resolution to those problems. They will also ensure that the resolution is implemented so that the cause of such incidents is resolved. Service availability is therefore increased through lesser service downtime. Reduction in effort in fire-fighting or resolving repeat incidents will increase efficiency and reduce cost. Any activities that results in improved service quality, reduce cost and improve customer satisfaction would be a good thing. </p> <p>Problem Management will also maintain information about problems and the appropriate workarounds and resolutions. Over time, this enables the organization to reduce the number and impact of incidents by speeding up the resolution time and identifying permanent solutions. Doing these now will position the organisation well for growth during the recovery phase. This results in less downtime and less disruption to business critical systems now and in the future. A highly reliable and quality service could turn out to be a competitive advantage in times of growth.</p> <p>Employee morale boost would be another benefit as the staff will be working on meaningful activities that will make their jobs easier in the longer run. </p> </span> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-64851905693416268552009-07-08T21:13:00.001+08:002009-07-08T21:16:16.713+08:00ITIL V3 Manager Bridge Course - classes available in Singapore<p>The ITIL V3 Manager Bridge course are available through Hewlett Packard Education Service in Singapore. Upon successful completion of this 4-day course, participants will be able to:</p> <ul> <li>Gain a good management-level understanding of the ITIL V3, including all aspects of the ITSM lifecycle </li> <li>Gain the knowledge necessary to prepare for the “ITIL V2 Managers to ITIL V3 Expert” examination from EXIN, ISEB or APM Group. Successful candidates will be awarded the new ITIL V3 Expert certification. </li> </ul> <p>The scheduled classes from now till end 2009 are:</p> <ul> <li>1-4 September, with the exam scheduled for the 20 October 2009. </li> <li>16-19 October, with the exam scheduled for the 14 December 2009. </li> </ul> <p>Prerequisite : ITIL V1 or V2 Manager certification.</p> <p align="left">Good news for Singapore citizens and permanent residents! This course is endorsed by IDA for <a href="http://http://www.ida.gov.sg/Programmes/20060419151233.aspx?getPagetype=35" target="_blank">CITREP</a> grant, capped at SGD3,000. In addition, Singapore-registered companies can claim Absentee Payroll support of SGD50 per trainee per day. More information can be found at the IDA website.</p> <p align="left">Leave me a comment with your email contact if you are interested to register for any of the above classes. I will email a registration form  to you together with other details for the registration.</p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7515901535475247072.post-47737628669294186802009-07-01T15:51:00.001+08:002009-07-01T15:59:40.832+08:00ITIL V2 Manager course in Singapore<p>The <a href="http://www.itilcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/itil-manager-certificate.pdf" target="_blank">ITIL V2 Manager course</a> is available through Hewlett Packard Education Service in Singapore. This is likely to be the <strong><em>last ITIL V2 Manager course</em></strong> that will be available in Singapore for 2009. </p> <p>The scheduled classes are:</p> <ul> <li>24 August to 28 August – ITSM Service Support </li> <li>28 Sept to 2 October – ITSM Service Delivery </li> <li>2-3 November – Examination preparation course, with the actual examinations scheduled for the 24 and 26 November 2009. </li> </ul> <p>Good news for Singapore citizens and permanent residents! This course is endorsed by IDA for <a href="http://http://www.ida.gov.sg/Programmes/20060419151233.aspx?getPagetype=35" target="_blank">CITREP</a> grant. In addition, Singapore-registered companies can claim Absentee Payroll support of SGD50 per trainee per day. </p> <p>Leave me a comment with your email contact if you are interested to register for the above class. I will email a registration form to you together with other details for the registration.</p> Odinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06613415797946935599noreply@blogger.com0