IT Operations and Framework
Anatomy of Processes
● Processes enable people to
- Know the expected results of their efforts
- Ensure their efforts are tied to business goals
● Understanding an overall process enables people to
- Understand the importance of completing a single task
- Know the work they are doing is necessary and valued
- Know why they are doing that work
● Processes and procedures exist in every service desk and in every business
● Process – a collection of interrelated work activities that take a set of specific inputs and produce a set of
specific outputs that are of value to the customer
● Procedure – a step-by-step, detailed set of instructions that describes how to perform the tasks in a
process
● Each task in a process has a procedure that describes how to do that task
● Processes define what tasks to do, procedures describe how to do the tasks
● Flowcharts are often used in business to outline processes
● Flowcharts show how tasks are interconnected
● Common flowchart symbols
- On Page Connector
- Task
- Predefined process
- Decision
- No result
- Yes result
- Start/Stop
The School has an online cashiering system where students pay their tuition fees. When a payment is made, the
system needs to validate the payment, update the student’s ledger, and issue a receipt
•Start
•Student logs in to the cashiering system.
•System checks if the student account is active.
•If inactive, display “Account not active” and end process.
•Student selects “Pay Tuition Fee” option.
•Student enters payment details (amount, payment method).
•System verifies if the amount is correct.
•If incorrect, display “Invalid amount” and return to payment entry.
•System processes payment.
•If payment fails, display “Payment unsuccessful” and return to payment entry.
•Update student’s ledger with the new payment.
•Generate and display the payment receipt.
•End process.
Evolution of Processes
• Concept originated in 1776 – Adam Smith – principle of the division of labor
– The same number of workers is more efficient and productive when each performs one simple, specialized task
rather than all the tasks in a process
• Today’s workers are more educated and self-motivated
• People are assigned greater responsibilities and empowered to make decisions about how to do work
• Workers complete all or most of the procedures required to perform a process
– At a minimum, they understand the overall process (even if they don’t complete all procedures)
• Understanding the overall process enables workers to
– See where their jobs fit into the process
– See how their contributions works with those of others to produce the desired result
– Help eliminate bottlenecks and unnecessary tasks
– Respond quickly to changing customer needs.
– See how changing one procedure may affect the next procedure
• Workers’ greater understanding of processes also means companies can use simpler processes which are
– More efficient
– Less prone to error
– Less expensive
Using Process Frameworks and Standards
• Framework - a structure designed to enclose something
• A process framework
– Describes best practices that can be used to define and continually improve a given set of processes
– Provides a common vocabulary organizations can use when describing and executing processes
• Standard – a document that contains an agreed-upon, repeatable way of
doing something
– Contains a formal specification
– Lists mandatory controls an organization must have in place to be certified
The International Organization for Standardization – known as ISO – is the World’s largest developer and
publisher of international standards.
• Types of frameworks and standards that IT organizations may use to manage and support information technology
and continually improve the quality of their services include:
– Quality management and improvement
– IT service management
– IT governance
– Project management
• The service desk plays an important role in
quality management and IT service management
Quality Management and Improvement Frameworks and Standards
• Focus on the ongoing management and improvement of an organization’s
processes and performance and its ability to satisfy customer requirements
• Requirement – something that is necessary or essential
• Quality – a characteristic that measures how well products or services meet customer requirements
• Activities include developing, documenting, and improving processes in an effort to
– Continually improve
– Improve business opportunities
– Receive awards
• Total Quality Management (TQM) – a
management approach to long-term success
through customer satisfaction
• Six Sigma – a disciplined, data-driven
approach for eliminating defects in any process
• ISO 9000 – a set of international standards for quality management
IT Service Management Frameworks and Standards
• Focus on
– The management of IT services
– Ensuring the quality of those services
• Unique to the IT department and companies that deliver IT- related services
• Include processes performed by the service desk
• Information Technology Infrastructure Library
(ITIL) – a set of best practices for IT service
management
• Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF)
• ISO/IEC 20000 – International Standard for IT
Service Management
• Consists of five books that reflect the lifecycle of an IT service
– Service Strategy
– Service Design
– Service Transition
– Service Operation
– Continual Service Improvement
• Covers more than 20 processes that are responsible for the provision and management of effective IT services
• Describes the teams or functions within IT that execute those processes
– The service desk is described in detail in the Service Operation book
• Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) – a collection of best practices, principles, and models that offers
guidance to IT organizations for managing their IT services
• Introduced by Microsoft in 1999
• Based on ITIL
• Offers practical, question-based advice
• Viewed as more prescriptive than ITIL
• Many organizations use MOF in conjunction with ITIL when they want to understand how to achieve a best
practice that may be described in ITIL
ISO/IEC 20000
• Promotes an integrated process approach companies can use to deliver IT services that meet business and
customer requirements
• Processes are performed by all of the various groups within IT
– Some, such as incident and problem management, are performed by the service desk
• Originally based on ITIL, standard is much more specific and succinct
Common Processes Used Service Desk