Tuesday, May 15, 2007
So what will we find in the books? Part V
This week I am providing some insight into what the Continual Service Improvement (CSI) book will include. The information is based on V3 presentations from the authors and Chief Architect, Sharon Taylor. I am including some analysis to compare V2 and V3 content to highlight the differences. I am also looking at the “new” topics covered in V3, but this time to illustrate that you may already do this in your organization. This is the fifth and last installment of this series.
Continual Service Improvement
The topics covered in this book are centered on restoring services. The topics include:
• Continual Service Improvement principles such as:
- Service measurement
- Knowledge management
- Benchmarking
- Return on Investment (ROI) for CSI
- Governance
• The 7 step measuring process
• Service reporting
• Tools used by CSI
• Relationships with other processes throughout the lifecycle
Continual Service Improvement (CSI) is not a new concept. Organizations have talked about it for many years; but, for most the concept has not moved beyond the discussion stage. For many organizations, CSI becomes a project when something has failed and severely impacted the business. When the issue is resolved, the concept is promptly forgotten until the next major failure occurs.
In ITIL V2, there are only some fleeting passages talking that processes, services and certain significant events should be reviewed and improvements recommendations made. In V3 there is now a whole book dedicated to continual improvement.
I started with the premise that the books are aligned with Dr. Deming’s cycle of Plan-Do-Check-Act. Service Strategy and Design’s primary focus is on the “Plan” activity while the Service Transition and Operation’s primary focus is on the “Do”. The “Check” activity is done throughout the lifecycle under the guidance of CSI. The “Act” activity is the primary focus of CSI. This is very well illustrated with the diagram below.
One of the more powerful elements of this book is the 7 step measuring process. As a trainer and consultant I have often seen some very poorly designed measuring and reporting processes. Usually they are based on the tool capabilities and what the person doing the reporting thinks that their audience wants to see. There are plenty of tables and assorted diagrams. However there are many missing elements such as analysis for one, but more critical, what should they be reporting on in the first place. The 7 step measuring process addresses this. It goes like this:
1. Define what you should measure
2. Define what you can measure
3. Gather data
4. Process data
5. Analyze data
6. Present data
7. Implement corrective actions
This book is not only about measuring and reporting, it is about CSI and is actually an integral part of each phase of the service lifecycle.
There is a lot of literature on the concepts covered in the CSI book; therefore, this book will not attempt to cover those but will rather explore how they can be leveraged to assist with CSI.
As you should have realized by now, most of what has been added to the “core” framework already exists and you or your organization may already be doing some or most of it. ITIL V3 expands its V2 core, evolves it from a process-oriented approach to a service lifecycle approach.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
So what will we find in the books? Part IV
This week I am providing some insight into what the Service Operation book will include. The information is based on V3 presentations from the authors and Chief Architect, Sharon Taylor. I am including some analysis to compare V2 and V3 content to highlight the differences. I am also looking at the “new” topics covered in V3, but this time to illustrate that you may already do this in your organization. This is the fourth installment of this series.
Service Operation
The topics covered in this book are centered on restoring services. The topics include:
• Event Management
• Incident Management
• Request Fulfillment
• Problem Management
• Access Management
• Functions
• Roles
• Technology considerations
In ITIL V2, the Incident and Problem Management processes start with the “detection” activity. As an instructor and a trainer, I was often asked how to do this. My answer always pointed to the various monitoring tools that an organization has and how they handle the various alerts, warnings and notifications. This is what Event Management is all about. We have been doing Event Management for years. Now, it is recognized as a best practice. Event Management is one of the entry points into the Incident, Problem and Request Fulfillment processes.
I do not foresee too many changes to the Incident and Problem Management processes. I do like the fact that, finally, there is a process to handle Service Requests and that Service Requests are properly defined. This process is called Request Fulfillment.
Access Management has a strong link to Security Management, but it goes into more detail on how to actually execute its activities.
In ITIL V2, there was only one official function – the Service Desk. Do not worry, as the Service Desk is still present in this book; however, this book introduces a few more functions: Technical Management, IT Operations Management and Application Management. The first two functions were actually covered in the Information, Communication Technology (ICT) Infrastructure Management book while the latter one was covered in the book of the same name.
Additionally, this book provides insight into the relationship between the processes mentioned not only in Service Operation but also in the other books and how they relate to “traditional” specializations in IT such as Server Management, Network Management, Database Administration and others.
In order to assist organizations, a section on organizational structure provides insight on how to properly manage the processes and their activities.
Finally, a whole section on technology considerations provides information about the various technologies that can be used by the various Service Operation processes.
As you should have realized by now, most of what has been added to the “core” framework already exists and you or your organization may already be doing some or most of it. ITIL V3 expands its V2 core, evolves it from a process-oriented approach to a service lifecycle approach.
Stay tuned for an analysis on the fifth book later this week.