Beginners Guide to ITIL - help or hindrance?

1. Dennis Adams a s s o c i a t e s Management and Infrastructure SIG Meeting Beginners Guide to ITIL- help or hindrance? Can it help me? What are the pitfalls? Dennis Adams 4th October 2006

2. Introduction • Why we are doing this … (Target Audience) • Confused by what ITIL is? • Heard the buzz-words, but not sure of the substance? • Scared by the prospect of being inundated with too much processes, so that your teams are unable to get any work done? • These are all typical reactions from technical leaders and managers when faced with the ITIL “hype”. • The purpose of this presentation is to introduce what ITIL is really about, and take away the mystery. • Explain and Justify PROCESS to TECHNICAL Audience. “ITIL for Dummies” ?

3. Topics to Cover • What is ITIL ? • What do we mean by a “Process Approach” to the world as a different way of looking at how we work together ? • What are the main Processes within ITIL ? • What some of the main Processes look like in more Detail • The importance of the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) • Conclusions: Don’t “Implement ITIL?” (!?) • Time for Questions…

4. The ITIL definition of IT “Service” - is this helpful ?? “An integrated composite that consists of a number of components such as management processes, hardware, software, facilities and people that provides a capability to satisfy a stated management need or objective.” Dictionary of IT Service Management

5. Think of MANAGING IT as PROVIDING a SERVICE SERVICE DELIVERY BUSINESS IT SERVICE £ SERVICE SUPPORT Align IT services with the needs of the Business Improve the Quality of the Service Reduce the long-term costs

6. Think in terms of PROCESSES rather than SKILLS Functional Organization Process Approach Using a Process Approach, we no longer think in terms of individual technical teams “doing their own thing”. Rather we think in terms of the overall goal which should be directed to the main goals of the organization.

7. What is ITIL? • ITIL = “Information Technology Infrastructure Library” • A Library of Processes books outlining “good practice” for managing IT Infrastructure. • A set of ready-made “how to” references. • ITIL IS A NON-PRESCRIPTIVE REFERENCE • ITIL® is a Registered Trade Mark, and a Registered Community Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce, and is Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office • ITIL revision 3 is currently being written. • A British Standard (BS 15000) certification (BS 25000 to come). • Linked to ISO 9000 Quality Certification.

8. An Analogy: Remember Development Methodologies? Hobby craft developer Quick and Dirty Prototype and User Design Waterfall Development Structured Design Method Anarchy ? JFDI ? Paralysis of Analysis ? Development Methodologies define Ways of Working to ensure that we do things in a Repeatable, Professional manner.

9. PRINCE 2 (Projects) ITIL (Infrastructure) DEVELOPMENT PRODUCTION Initiate Document the Configuration Design New Application Releases Infrastructures Changes Build Identify root-cause of Problems Resolve Customer Incidents Test Service Desk / Help Desk Deploy

10. The ITIL Library of Process Books ICT Infrastructure Management Security Management Service Delivery The Business Perspective Application Management Service Support Planning to Implement Service Management Key: “CORE ITIL” Main Volumes Supplementary Volumes

11. Capacity Management Availability Management IT Service Continuity Management. Service Level Management IT Financial Management Service Desk Incident Management Problem Management Change Management Release Management Configuration Management The Core ITIL Books: IT Service Management Service Delivery Service Support User Support Control Processes

12. Request for Change EXAMPLE: Process to manage CHANGE Change Review Log RFC Inform Users Assess Priority Approval Impact Analysis Change Scheduling Categorize Testing Plans

13. EXAMPLE: What is CAPACITY PLANNING ? • BUSINESS CAPACITY MANAGEMENT • Future Service requirements from the Business • Future Capacity from the Business • Resource Requirements in future. • CAPACITY PLAN • SERVICE CAPACITY MANAGEMENT • What are the existing requirements? • Are we meeting SLAs? • How well are we utilising existing resources today? • RESOURCE CAPACITY MANAGEMENT • How well are we using existing technology? • Are we using each component appropriately? • What future technologies could be better?

14. EXAMPLE: The activities in CAPACITY PLANNING Resource Utilisation Business Strategy Business Planning Service Level Thresholds Monitoring Analysis IT Strategy Tuning Service Level Exceptions Implementation IT Business Plan Resource Utilisation Exceptions Ensuring we can meet our SLAs

15. Some Best Practices in the ITIL Library • How to get the best benefit from a SERVICE DESK • Single point of contact, Monitoring and escalation on behalf of customers. • A systematic way of managing INCIDENTS: • Log / Classify / Investigate / Diagnose / Resolution • Being Pro-Active: PROBLEM MANAGEMENT • Root Cause Analysis, Kepner & Tregoe Analysis, Ishikawa diagrams. • Keeping track of IT Assets: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT • Stopping dangerous changes: CHANGE & RELEASE MANAGEMENT • Impact Analysis and Authorisation before Changes • Being Customer-Focused: SERVICE LEVEL MANAGEMENT • Bean-Counting: FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT • Charge-back to reflect the cost to the Business. • CAPACITY: Prediction instead of Panic • AVAILABILITY • Design for continual up-time • DR and BCP: IT SERVICE CONTINUITY • Risk Assessment and Planning

16. Why implement ITIL-based processes? • ITIL emphasises that IT should be seen as a service to the business. • ITIL could be (part of) a Quality Management strategy to improve the quality of the IT Service for the business. • Introducing clear processes should enable the company to grow and/or bring on more staff more easily. • Being based on a “best practice” approach means that you do not have to reinvent the wheel. • Cost reduction - Standardising “how you do things” can simplify and reduce costs. • Professionalism / Clear points of contact with external organisations and stakeholders.

17. The BEST WAY to Implement ITIL Service Management? Service Desk Incident Problem Change Release Configuration Configuration Management Database (CMDB)

18. …or MORE LIKE THIS ? Service Desk Incident Problem Change Release Configuration Configuration Management Database (CMDB)

19. .. Just Some parts of a theoretical CMDB HARDWARE Specification Location Owner Financials Software USERS Applications Contracts Incidents INCIDENTS Applications Hardware Resolutions CHANGES Applications Users Equipment SOFTWARE Licenses Versions APPLICATIONS Users Hardware SLA Applications Users Contracts O/S Equipment RELEASES Applications KNOWN ERRORS Incidents INFRASTRUCTURE SOFTWARE e.g. Oracle PROBLEMS Incidents Resolutions B C P DOCS AVAILABILITY STATISTICS SERVICES Applications NETWORK Linkages Dependancies DEFINITIVE SOFTWARE LIBRARY DEFINITIVE HARDWARE STORE

20. Server Naming Configuration Management: Naming Conventions Applications on machines Change Control: Usage of Machine Application Listing Release Management: Applications Case Study: Understanding Applications and Machines Data Collection Processes Hardware in Data Centre New Equipment Purchasing Objective: Impact Analysis of Applications <=> Machines

21. Pitfalls and Warnings • “Organisations should not be over ambitious when implementing Service Management” (IT Service Management “Little ITIL”). • DON’T “IMPLEMENT ITIL” • ITIL is a Framework of Best Practices, not a Prescriptive Manual • Use what is useful, when and where it is useful. • Remember that any IT Process will only work if the participants have the right data in the right place at the right time. • Configuration Management Database (CMDB) • Remember that the objective is to document and implement repeatable processes in order to make the organisation more efficient and/or more responsive to customers. • ITIL should never been seen as an end in itself.

22. Some Recommendations • See ITIL processes as a way of standardising what is already done / should be already done. • Everyone should benefit from simplified and clearer ways of doing things. • Consider the ITIL Foundation Exam • For most IT Infrastructure Professionals, it is “common sense” • Looks good on the CV • Gives you a common “vocabulary” for discussing how things are done • Emphasises “customer focus” and “process” • 40 questions multiple-choice, pass mark is 25. • Keep asking “what is the business benefit ?”

23. Further Useful Information • OGC Home Page for ITIL: http://www.itil.co.uk • TSO (The Stationery Office): http://www.tso.co.ukhttp://www.get-best-practice.co.uk/itilProducts.aspx • IT Service Management Forum (itSMF): http://www.itsmf.com • Interactive Forum: http://www.itilcommunity.com • ITIL Toolkit: http://www.itil-toolkit.com • Key Skills Training: http://www.ksl.org, http://www.itiltraining.com • Square Mile Systems: http://www.squaremilesystems.co.uk • Pink Elephant Consultancy: http://www.pinkelephant.com • Dennis Adams Associates: http://www.dennisadams.net

24. Questions? • Is ITIL a panacea for all IT Infrastructure Management challenges? • It never claims to be ! • It is a set of good practice processes to be used as a “toolkit” • ITIL itself speaks about: • Process / Product / People. • Implement ITIL as part of a Strategic Cultural change in the organisation, which should include: • Metrics, Operational Tools, Processes, Standards. • Can you implement “parts” of ITIL and ignore the rest? • Yes. • Remember that to make processes succeed you need appropriate data.

25. Dennis Adams a s s o c i a t e s More Questions ?

26. Dennis Adams a s s o c i a t e s Management and Infrastructure SIG Meeting Beginners Guide toITIL- help or hindrance? Can it help me? What are the pitfalls? Dennis Adams 4th October 2006 http://www.dennisadams.net