Datatrend Newsletter: 2Q 2008

President's Perspective

How ITIL's new lifecycle IT approach benefits your business

If someone placed a magic IT wand in your hand, would any of the following goals be on your wish list?

[ read more ]

Automation: The Key to ITIL Success

If ITIL is the industry accepted best practice for IT service management excellence, why do many ITIL initiatives fail or take longer to achieve than expected?

[ read more ]

Service Solution Orientation: How to match IT services to your business requirements

The pressure is on IT executives today to improve service quality and demonstrate the value of information technology to the business.

[ read more ]

Case Studies

Case Study #1- Regional Healthcare Organization
This organization's ITIL efforts were stalled due to a lack of focus and a clear implementation plan. They needed an objective view of their ITIL plan as a whole, and their Service Support and Service Delivery process in particular. They wanted to get back on the track and implement a road map for 2008.

Case Study #2- Large, Multi-location Health Care Provider
Budget allocation and tracking were complicated due to inaccurate IT asset information. Also, this organization was experiencing high monthly costs in implementing upgrades in their proprietary clinic management software. Continual discovery and manual error control were driving up costs.

[ read more ]

Tech Tip: ITIL v3 and Technical Management

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President's Perspective

Over the last 18 months we have dedicated each quarterly edition of Trendsetter to some facet of infrastructure optimization.

In this issue, we dive into Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) disciplines and take a look at this approach and specific offerings that can streamline IT operations. Making hardware, software and processes work together on YOUR terms, as tailored for your enterprise, is what we would hope would be part of your thinking and already part of your ongoing efforts.

Enjoy this issue of Trendsetter, and as usual, should you have any questions....please contact my office anytime.

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How ITIL's new lifecycle IT approach benefits your business

If someone placed a magic IT wand in your hand, would any of the following goals be on your wish list?

Better alignment of IT and business goals
Less unplanned downtime
Higher levels of service to your internal and external customers
More clarity in the ROI for IT
Increased efficiency in routine IT tasks

If your organization hasn't achieved any of these and similar goals yet, you may need to consider whether you have the right processes and procedures - best practices-in place to administer your IT operations.

In that case, the magic phrase isn't "abracadabra." It's "ITIL" that's on the lips of IT and business executives these days who are looking to drive real gains in the efficiency and effectiveness of their business through IT service management optimization.

ITIL Overview
ITIL stands for Information Technology Infrastructure Library, a globally accepted best practice service management framework. ITIL consists of five books that provide a framework that brings people, processes and technology together to deliver high quality and value for information technology services.

Without a doubt, information technology is a critical element of virtually every business. But effectively aligning and using it to achieve business objectives is not easy. That is because success requires so many complex elements to be done properly.

The key message conveyed by ITIL is that IT services are intended to support the business and maximize its efficiency and effectiveness. ITIL offers benefits to companies regardless of size or technology they use. Continually updated to keep pace with IT technology's evolution, ITIL v.3 is the current version.

ITIL's New Lifecycle IT Service Approach
ITIL v.3 goes beyond processes by taking a wider view of IT service lifecycle, putting new emphasis on strategic options, functions, roles and responsibilities as well as continuous improvement.

The latest evolution of ITIL shifts the focus from the IT systems and processes themselves to the services used by the internal and external customers. Simply stated, customer success and satisfaction becomes the standard for measuring IT service quality with ITIL v.3.

The key aspects addressed by ITIL v.3 include:

Service Strategy - focuses on identifying the set of services that will help achieve business objectives.
Service Design - concerned with designing services that are effective and guaranteed.
Service Transition - moving from services from the planning and design phase to a live production environment.
Service Operation - managing services on an ongoing basis to ensure their effectiveness and warranty objectives are met.
Continual Service Improvement - introduces metrics and measurement systems to prioritize improvements based on strategic objectives.

ITIL v.3 provides the framework that is used throughout the world by organizations that recognize the need to create structure and consistency in their IT service delivery to end users.

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Automation: The Key to ITIL Success

If ITIL is the industry accepted best practice for IT service management excellence, why do many ITIL initiatives fail or take longer to achieve than expected?

The process requires ongoing, detailed process tracking and control. The pitfall is trying to do it all manually. Successful ITIL implementations have one thing in common: automation, which takes out much of the tedium and challenges associated with manual tracking and control.

By automating your ITIL approach, you can accelerate implementation and realize the benefits faster than is possible with manual methods and point solutions. As your processes mature, you can reap the rewards of continuous improvement in your IT service management.

Data Center Automation Benefits
Imagine an IT infrastructure that virtually takes care of itself. Data center automation is the first step toward a worry-free IT architecture.

Data center automation aims to automate the deployment and management of servers, software, network devices, storage and processes. It is designed to address the sharp rise in IT costs and complexity of IT application management, and data center automation.

Automation allows your IT team to:

View a unified picture of an application's presence in the enterprise, across the three fundamental components required for full data center automation: servers, networks and storage
Identify and remediate security threats in real time
Instantly check application and infrastructure compliance

HP Data Center Automation Center, for example, supports ITIL disciplines by supporting discovery, visibility & dependencies, change management, incident management and application release management, to name a few.

Bottom line, data center automation supports ITIL initiatives through its ability to drive critical IT initiatives, achieve reductions in cost and complexity while driving dramatic improvements in productivity and performance.

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Service Solution Orientation: How to match IT services to your business requirements

The pressure is on IT executives today to improve service quality and demonstrate the value of information technology to the business.

In most organizations, that means IT needs to align its services with the business, improve internal customer satisfaction and achieve greater operational efficiency.

IT executives are realizing those goals by implementing ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), and specifically, focusing on the creation of an IT service catalog.

Creating the IT Service Catalog
In the ITIL world, the customer is #1, so the IT department is organized around serving the customer's needs. Like the consumer catalogs that land in your mailbox, the IT service catalog is the foundation for defining services and communicating with the business.

The key to a practical IT Service Catalog is that it be clearly written and focus on the business value to the internal customer. The more effective IT Service Catalogs are defined in the customer's terms rather than cryptic IT-speak. Customers want to choose from service offerings they can understand. Otherwise, you will invest too many hours in creating IT Service Catalogs that will be rarely read - and worse yet, ignored - by end users.

Another important attribute to a good IT Service Catalog is accessibility. Make it an online catalog that is easy to access and 'shop' from. You may want to have two general views of the Service Catalog: one for employees to order services, and one for business executives to view details such as service levels, IT budgets, etc.

As the old business school adage goes, "if you can't measure it, you can't manage it." Matching IT services to business requirements and specific business processes is an important step in clarifying and simplifying the services IT delivers to the business, monitoring what the demands are, streamlining delivery and lowering costs.

ITIL makes Service Solution Orientation possible by matching specific IT services to your specific business requirements.

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Case Studies

Case Study #1- Regional Healthcare Organization

The Client
A large regional Health Care organization with 20,000 employees.

The Challenge
This organization's ITIL efforts were stalled due to a lack of focus and a clear implementation plan. They needed an objective view of their ITIL plan as a whole, and their Service Support and Service Delivery process in particular. They wanted to get back on track and implement a road map for 2008.

The Solution
A high-level analysis of the Service Support processes was conducted, along with a review of the function of the Service Desk and Service Delivery Processes. Process maturity levels were assessed using CobiT 4.1 guidelines and ITIL-defined process roles, responsibilities and activities. The goal of the assessment was to develop a roadmap that would provide the largest benefit for the resource investment and build a solid operational structure for the future.

The Results

Reduced Change-Related Incidents: Specific areas of non-compliance were identified and a plan was formulated to improve enterprise-wide change compliance, to reduce their current rate of 61.3% non-compliance.
Increased Consistency in Categorizing and Prioritizing Non-Compliance: First contact structure was organized and standardized for prioritization and escalation of Incidents and Service Requests.
ITIL Roadmap Defined: The client is currently creating and implementing specific projects and initiatives defined in the updated roadmap.

Case Study #2- Large, Multi-location Health Care Provider

The Client
A large Health Care provider with multiple locations and a user community of approximately 800 desktops.

The Challenge
Budget allocation and tracking were complicated due to inaccurate IT asset information. Also, this organization was experiencing high monthly costs in implementing upgrades in their proprietary clinic management software. Continual discovery and manual error control were driving up costs.

The Solution
An assessment was conducted to detail the current asset management environment and match it against their desired state with a gap analysis. The assessment measured the viability of their existing help desk software; the viability of Microsoft's SMS as a tool for auto discovery asset and configuration management; and a process and procedural assessment of the internal service delivery to identify asset touch points.

The Results

Reduced time for upgrade implementation: Complete, updated asset information allows for a smoother, quicker process.
Reduced Labor: Continual discovery and manual error control were virtually eliminated.
Automated software distribution is a reality: With a validated auto discovery process and the help desk software asset management module in place, the process can now be automated, creating labor cost savings.

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Tech Tip: ITIL v3 and Technical Management

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) has always been about processes, functions, roles, responsibility, and aligning and supporting business objectives. Management of the infrastructure technologies has really been a peripheral discipline.

ITIL Version 2 had an entire book dedicated to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Certifications under that discipline were rare and most of the educational and implementation focus was on the IT Service Management (ITSM) areas of Service Delivery and Service Support.

ITIL Version 3, published on May 30, 2007, has brought Technology Management into the mainstream of the service management lifecycle. This lifecycle approach views the delivery of IT services from beginning (what the business needs) through design, implementation and maintenance, to the end (how to continually improve what is delivered). A more holistic view where the upstream and downstream processes and functions are not only aware of each other but their interface and interdependencies are defined and documented. Technical Management is one of these defined functions within the Service Operation core book.

ITIL defines Technical Management as the function responsible for providing the technical skills in support of IT Services and management of the IT Infrastructure. It also has the responsibilities of defining the roles of Support Groups, as well as the tools, processes and procedures required. Technical Management includes all the people who provide technical expertise and management of the IT infrastructure.

Technical Management helps to plan, implement and maintain a stable technical infrastructure and ensures that required resources and expertise are in place to design, build, transition, operate and improve the IT services and supporting technology.

Some activities that are the responsibility of Technical Management include:

Identifying knowledge and expertise requirements
Defining architecture standards
Involvement in the design and build of new services and operational practices
Contributing to service design, service transition or continual service improvement projects
Assistance with service management processes, helping to define standards and tools, and undertaking activities such as the evaluation of change requests
Assistance with the management of contracts and vendors

ITIL v3's holistic approach to Technical Management is summarized in the Service Operation book:

"It is tempting to divorce the concept of Service Management from the management of the infrastructure that is used to deliver those services. In reality, it is impossible to achieve quality services without aligning and 'gearing' every level of technology (and the people who manage it) to the service being provided. Service Management involves people, process and technology.

In other words, the common Service Operation activities are not about managing the technology for the sake of having good technology performance. They are about achieving performance that will integrate the technology component with the people and process components to achieve service and business objectives."

Rick LiaBraaten is ITIL certified as a Manager in IT Service Management and is ready and willing to answer any questions you may have concerning this article or about ITIL in general. You can reach Rick at 952-931-1203 or 800-367-7472, or you can email him at rick.liabraaten@datatrend.com.

Want to know more? Join us May 12th - May 14th for an ITIL V3 Foundation class in Minnetonka, MN. Click here for more information.

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