ITIL:
Why Your IT Organization Should Care
Service Support
Wendy Shih
Wshih@kent.edu
Kent State University
History
ITIL - IT Infrastructure Library
Developed by British government in 1980’s
Focus on continuously improvement
Consists of 8 books, currently in version 2
•Service Support (blue book) - core book •ICT Infrastructure Management (Vol. I and II)
•Service Delivery (red book) - core book •Application Management
•Security Management •Planning and Implementation
•Business Perspectives •Software Asset Management
Version 3 released May 30, 2007 has 5 books
Why adopting ITIL?
It aligns with IT business goals and service objectives
It is process driven, scaleable and flexible
Reduce IT cost yet providing optimal services
Increase relationship and communication among different
departments, employees, customers and users
Successfully adapted by HP, IBM, PG, Shell Oil, Boeing,
Microsoft, Proctor and Gamble, State of CA
How Is It Different?
Provide common language for IT
Not a methodology but guidelines with best practices
Connect processes
Provide a framework
It is public domain not proprietary
Core books consist - one function and ten processes:
Service Support
The Service Desk - a function
Incident Management Service Support
Problem Management Service Support
Change Management Service Support
Release Management Service Support
Configuration Management Service Support
Service Level Management Service Delivery
Financial Management Service Delivery
IT Continuity Management Service Delivery
Availability Management Service Delivery
Capacity Management Service Delivery
Incident Management
A disruption in normal or standard business
operation that affects the quality of service
Goal: restore normal service as quickly as
possible and minimize the adverse effect on
business operation
Incident Activities
Detection & Report
Classification & support
Service Request
Monitoring,
Investigation & diagnosis tracking and
Escalate communication
Resolution & recovery
Incident Closure
Service Desk Function
SPOC - Single Point of Contact
Record and resolve incidents
Provide work-around, escalate if not resolved
Produce incident reports
Keep users and customers informed of progress
Responsible for incident life cycle
Service
Service Desk
Support
Incident End Users
Management
Problem
Change Management
Management
Release
Management
Configuration Management
Problem Management
A problem is an unknown underlying cause of an error
or failure in the IT infrastructure
Known error - incidents or problems that the underlying cause is
known (root cause) and a temporary work-around or alternative fix has
been identified
Goal:
• Minimize the impact of incidents caused by errors
• Reduce recurrence of incidents due to these errors
Error in Incidents Problems Known Error RFC
Infrastructure Solutions
Problem Management
Activities
Problem Control
Identify, classify and solve problems
Root cause identification
Provide work-around to the Service Desk
Error Control
Review and assess Known Error identified from Root Cause
Eliminate known errors using the Change management
Prevent incidents - trend analysis and place preventive measures
Service Desk & Problem Management
Incidents vs Problems
Propose incidents
Incident Matching
Identify recurrences of solved problems
Report and identify new work-around
Identify trend
Change Management
• Goal: All changes are controlled and managed with
standardized procedures and minimum interruption
• A change is when a state of supported hardware, network,
software, application, environment, system, or associated
documentation is different because of:
Addition
Change
Move
Change Management Activities
Log /Filter requests for change (RFC)
Prioritize and categorize RFCs
Assessing resource requirements and impact
Authorize and approve RFCs by Change Advisory Board
Schedule and build the change
Create back-out plan and test the change
Implement and review implemented changes
Review the change management process
Service Desk & Change Management
Receive and forward Request for Change (RFC)
Provide feedback to users about the changes
Ready to support and understand the impact
Identify and report failed changes
Report and feedback to Change management
Configuration Management
Accounts for relationship between assets
Owner of Configuration Management DB - CMDB
Account and track for all IT assets & configuration
items (CI) in the CMDB
Verify configuration records against the infrastructure
for accuracy
A sound basis for Incident, Problem, Change and
Release Management
Configuration Management
Activities
Plan
Identify - CI
Control - CI and change authorization
Status Accounting - keep CI up-to-date
Audit / Verification - accuracy
Report of CI life cycle
Service Desk and Configuration Mgmt
Use CMDB retrieve incident and problem records
Report and identify inaccurate CMDB relationship
Assess severity and priority with CMDB info
Provide customers with CMDB changes
Assist Configuration Management team with CMDB audit
Release Management
• Goals:
1. Plan and oversee successful rollout
2. Design and implement efficient procedures
3. Communicate and agree to the rollout plan through Change
Management
4. Ensure master copies are secured in DSL and DHS
5. Ensure CMDB is updated and changes are traceable
Owner of DSL - Definitive Software Library
Owner of DHS - Definitive Hardware Store
Release Management
Activities: Development
Policy
Schedule
Test
Design /Develop
Build
Test Production
Accept
Plan Rollout
Archive
Distribute / install
Review
Service Desk and Release Management
Identify incidents from rollout
Assist in release planning
Record and report
Provide feedback
Ensure staff can support new releases
Service
Service Desk
Support
Incident End Users
Management
Problem
Change Management
Management
Release
Management
Configuration Management
Successful ITIL Service Desk
Increasing customers and users satisfaction
Decrease incident numbers
First call resolution goal
Accurate incident identification and escalation
Excellent communication with other areas
SLA compliance
Service Support
The common area to implement ITIL
Increase customer and user satisfaction
IT will be more efficient and effective
Decrease IT financial cost
Useful ITIL Links
• The Official ITIL Site
• http://www.ogc.gov.uk/
• ITSMF — ITIL global forum
• http://www.itsmf.com/
• ITIL COMMUNITY FORUM
• http://www.itilcommunity.com
Questions and Discussion
Wendy Shih wshih@kent.edu
Thank you!