OSA Quick Reference Guide
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
OSA Quick Reference Guide
The contents of this Quick Reference Guide are based on OGC ITIL material (Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operation, Continual Service Improvement) and are reproduced under license from OGC.
Purpose Of This Document
This document is an overview guide to the Operational Support and Analysis capability course and offers some relevant key concepts from ITIL V3 to be used as supplementary information to support various workshops or as a study aid in preparation for ITIL V3 exams. It does not summarize all of the content from the ITIL V3 books. For more details on any topic, please consult the ITIL V3 books. The summary includes:
An introduction to the general service concepts. These are concepts that are useful for everyone, throughout the Service Lifecycle Generic roles: Service Manager Service Owner Process Owner Technology & Architecture: Integrated ITSM Technology: Generic Requirements Service Automation A summary Service Operation described in terms of: Goal of the lifecycle phase Objectives of the lifecycle phase Business value of the lifecycle phase Key concepts, definitions, principles and/or models Processes in the lifecycle phase: Objectives Activities Key terms and their definitions Roles in the lifecycle phase
OSA Quick Reference Guide
An Introduction To The General Service Concepts
This section summarizes the themes applicable across the entire lifecycle.
Good Practice
That which is considered within an industry to be acceptable to meet that industrys main objective, enabling the organization utilizing the practice to meet external and legal requirements; There are multiple ways to implement service management no single technique; Organizations benchmark themselves against peers and seek to close gaps in capabilities. One way to close such gaps is the adoption of good practices in wide industry use. Good practices consist of multiple factors that may change over time to support what, how and when you implement service management: o Sources (public frameworks like ITIL, standards, industry practices, etc). o Enablers to adapt the sources to your environment (employees, customers, etc). o Drivers (regulators, etc.).
Service
A service is a means of delivering value to customers by facilitating outcomes customers want to achieve without the ownership of specific costs and risks
Service Management
Service Management is a set of specialized organizational capabilities for providing value to customers in the form of services Set of functions and processes for managing services over their life cycle Professional practice supported by an extensive body of knowledge, experience and skills
Service Lifecycle
The Service Lifecycle is a comprehensive approach to service management; it seeks to understand its structure, the interconnections between all its components, and how changes in any area will affect the whole system and its constituent parts over time. It is an organizing framework designed for sustainable performance; An approach to IT Service Management that emphasizes the importance of coordination across the various functions, processes and systems necessary to manage the full lifecycle of IT services; The Service Management Lifecycle approach considers the Strategy, Design, Transition, Operation and Continuous Improvement of IT services; Service Strategy Model and plan services that have utility and warranty (Understand customer and market, assess gaps define service strategy, portfolio etc);
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Service Design Design high quality, cost effective, consistent services (Design the service blueprint based on requirements); Service Transition Transition new and changed services into operations (Build, test, validate, deploy); Service Operation To achieve effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of services (Run); Continual Service Improvement Continue to create and improve value through improvements and enhancements (Improve).
RACI
A Critical Success Factor in Service and Process Design is to clearly define the roles and responsibilities within the organization for the various activities. A trademark of high-performing organizations is the ability to make the right decisions quickly and execute them effectively. The RACI is an authority matrix used to align roles and responsibilities with processes and activities. Matrix often used within organizations to indicate roles and responsibilities in relation to processes and activities. R A C I Responsible Accountable Consulted Informed The one person responsible for getting the job done Only one person can be accountable for each task Involvement through input of knowledge and information Receiving information about process execution and quality
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Generic Roles
Service Manager
The Service Manager is responsible for: Managing the end-to-end Lifecycle of one or more IT services Service Manager is also used to mean any manager within the IT service provider Most commonly used to refer to a Business Relationship Manager, a Process Manager, an Account Manager or a senior manager with responsibility for IT services overall Managing the development, implementation, evaluation and on-going management of new and existing products and services Responsibilities include:
Delivery and full lifecycle management of products and/or services for business strategy development Competitive market assessment/benchmarking Financial and internal customer analysis Vendor management Inventory management Internal supplier management Cost management
Service Owner
The Service Owner is accountable for a specific service within an organization, regardless of where the underpinning technology components, processes or professional capabilities reside. Service Ownership is as critical to service management as establishing ownership for processes that cross multiple vertical silos or departments. Responsibilities include: Provides input in service attributes such as performance, availability, etc Represents the service across the organization Understands the service (components, etc) Acts as a point of escalation Represents the service in Change Advisory Board meetings Provides input in CSI Participates in internal service review meetings
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Process Owner
The Process Owner is responsible for ensuring that the process is being performed according to the agreed and documented process and is meeting the aims of the process definition. The Process Owners responsibilities include: sponsorship, design, a focus on Change Management and Continual Improvement processes for the process under his/her ownership and its metrics. This role is often assigned to the same person who carries out the Process Manager Role, but the two roles may be separate in larger organizations. The Process Owner (is): Accountable for the overall quality of the process Oversees the management of, and organizational compliance to, the process Performs the role of process champion, design lead, advocate, coach and protector Should be a senior level manager with credibility, influence and authority Required to have the ability to influence and ensure compliance to the policies and procedures
Process Manager
A Role responsible for operational management of a process The Process Manager's responsibilities include planning and co-ordination of all activities required to carry out, monitor and report on the process There may be several Process Managers for one process, for example, regional Change Managers or IT Service Continuity Managers for each data center The Process Manager role is often assigned to the person who carries out the Process Owner Role, but the two roles may be separate in larger organizations
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Technology & Architecture
Integrated ITSM Technology: Generic Requirements
Self Help Workflow or Process Engine Integrated CMS Discovery/Deployment/Licensing Technology Remote Control Diagnostic Utilities help determine health of infrastructure Reporting Dashboards Integration with Business Service Management
Service Automation
Automation can help to: Adjust capacity easily Operate round the clock Make measurement easier Simplify optimization problems Support knowledge capture and codification
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Service Operation
Goal
Responsible for the ongoing management of the technology that is used to deliver and support services
Objectives
Provide and manage well-designed processes for day-to-day operations of IT services Monitor performance, assess metrics and gather data to support service improvement and service management activities Meet SLA, OLA and contract targets
Business Value
The operation of service is where these plans, designs and optimizations are executed and measured From a customers viewpoint Service Operation is where actual value is seen
Key Concepts, Definitions, Principles & Models
Impact The impact is a measure of the effect of an incident, problem or change to business processes Impact is often based on how service levels will be affected Impact and urgency are used to assign priority Urgency Urgency is a measure of how long it will be until an incident, problem or change has a significant impact on the business Priority Priority is a category used to identify the relative importance of an incident, problem or change Priority is based on impact and urgency and is used to identify required times for actions to be taken Achieving Balance Avoid extremes
o
IT Services vs. Technology View of IT as a set of services (external business view) vs. Tech (internal IT view)
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o
Stability vs. Responsiveness Being responsive to business, i.e.: New requirements/growth etc, but being stable Quality vs. Cost Asked to cut cost, cut corners, impacts quality; 3 stages new, middle-life and end of life Reactive vs. Proactive Reactive tries to make it as stable as possible, but doesnt think about tomorrow. Need balance
Communication In Service Operation Good communication is needed between IT teams/users/internal customers, etc Can prevent/mitigate issues through communication Different types o Through stages in lifecycle from Strategy to Design to Operations teams
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Event Management
Objectives
To detect events, make sense of them and determine that the appropriate control action is established by Event Management, providing the basis for operational monitoring and control.
Events Can Signify
Regular operation, e.g.: Batch has run An exception, e.g.: Batch running slow, disc drive almost full Unusual, but not exceptional, operation, e.g.: Unauthorized access?
Scope
Event Management can be applied to any aspect of service management that needs to be controlled and which can be automated. These aspects include: o Configuration items o Environmental conditions o Software license monitoring o Security o Normal activity
Activities
Event occurs Event notification Event detection Event filtering Significance of events Event correlation Trigger Response selection Review actions Close event
Key Concepts
Event Change of state significant for management of CI or service Notification could be to a potential disruption Alert Subset of event based on thresholds, warning action needed
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Incident Management
Objectives
To restore normal service operation as quickly as possible and minimize adverse impact on business operations and to ensure best levels of service quality and availability are maintained. Service Desk owns the incident record throughout the entire lifecycle.
Scope
Incident Management includes any event which disrupts, or which could disrupt, a service Includes events which are communicated directly by users, either through the Service Desk or through an interface from Event Management to Incident Management tools Incidents can also be reported and/or logged by technical staff
Activities
Incident identification Incident logging Incident categorization Filter out service requests Incident prioritization Major incident o separate procedure if shorter timescale and greater urgency is needed Initial diagnosis often by Service Desk Hierarchical escalation? Functional escalation? Investigation and diagnosis Resolution and recovery Incident closure by Service Desk, based on user satisfaction Ownership, monitoring, tracking and communication
Key Concepts
Incident It is a failure Unplanned interruption to an IT service or service quality reduction Timescales Time-stamps in process; examples include response and resolution times Incident Model Pre-defining the steps that should be taken to handle a process in an agreed way Major Incident Determined by policy, shorter time scales and greater urgency
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Request Fulfillment
Objectives
To provide a channel for users to request and receive standard services for which a pre-defined approval and qualification process exists To provide information to users and customers about the availability of services and the procedure for obtaining them To source and deliver the components of requested standard services (e.g.: Licenses and software media) To assist with general information, complaints or comments
Scope
The process needed to fulfill a request will vary depending upon exactly what is being requested Some organizations will be comfortable to let the service requests be handled through their Incident Management processes It will ultimately be up to each organization to decide and document which request it will handle through the Request Fulfillment process and which others will have to go through more formal Change Management
Activities
Menu selection and request submission Financial approval o Other approval Request logging, categorization and prioritization Fulfillment Closure
Key Concepts
Service requests include enquiries, requesting a standard service, password reset etc. often handled by Service Desk Request model includes: o Pre-defined steps to handle specific service requests o Enabled via support tools
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Problem Management
Objectives
The process responsible for managing the lifecycle of all problems through:
Preventing problems and resulting Incidents from happening Eliminating recurring incidents Minimizing the impact of incidents that cannot be prevented
Scope
Problem Management includes the activities required to diagnose the root cause of incidents and to determine the resolution to those problems Ensures that the resolution is implemented through the appropriate control procedures, especially Change Management and Release and Deployment Management
Problem Management consists of two major processes: Reactive: Problem Management, which is generally executed as part of Service Operation Proactive: Problem Management which is initiated in Service Operation, but generally driven as part of Continual Service Improvement
Activities
Problem detection Problem logging Problem categorization Prioritization Investigation and diagnosis Raising A known error record Problem resolution Closure Major problem review
Key Concepts
Problem Unknown cause of one or more incidents Cause often known when problem record created Problem Model Pre-defined steps to deal with a particular type of problem Workaround
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Reduce/eliminate impact of an incident/problem for which a full resolution is not yet available
Known Error Problem + Root Cause + Workaround = Known Error But, you can for informational purposes raise a known-error when the rootcause/workaround is unavailable
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Access Management
Objectives
Access Management provides the right for users to be able to use a service or group of services. It is, therefore, the execution of policies and actions defined in Information Security and Availability Management. Access Management: Grants authority to use a service and prevent access to non-authorized users Provides rights to access a service/group of services Execution of policies and actions defined in Security and Availability Management
Scope
Access Management is effectively the execution of both Availability and Information Security Management, in that it enables the organization to manage the confidentiality, availability and integrity of the organizations data and intellectual property Process that is executed by all Technical and Application Management functions and is it usually not a separate function Can be initiated by a service request through the Service Desk
Activities
Requesting access Verification Providing rights Monitoring identity status Logging and tracking access Removing or restricting rights
Key Concepts
Access Level/extent of service functionality or data that user is entitled to use Identity How distinguish user as an individual Identity unique to user i.e.: Physical access such as retina scans etc. Rights/Privileges Actual settings read, write, execute, admin rights etc. Services/Service Groups Grant access to a whole set of services as opposed to granting it service by service Directory Services Tool used to manage access and rights
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Roles In Service Operation
Specific Process Roles
Incident Manager o First Line o Second Line o Third Line Problem Manager Problem Solving Groups
Service Desk Roles
Service Desk Manager Service Desk Supervisor Service Desk Analyst Super Users
Technical Management Roles
Technical Analysts/Architects Technical Operator
IT Operations Management Roles
Shift Leaders IT Operations Analysts IT Operators
Applications Management Roles
Applications Managers/Team-leaders Applications Analyst/Architect
End of Quick Reference Guide