CMDB or CMS

Glenn O’Donell writes in his blog on ComputerWorldUK. Please click here to read more…

Official list of ITIL Processes in ITIL V3

Taken from Pink Elephant’s blog…

Service Strategy – 4 processes

1. Strategy Generation
2. Financial management
3. Demand management
4. Service Portfolio management

Service Design – 7 processes

1. Service Catalog Management
2. Service Level Management
3. Availability Management
4. Capacity Management
5. It service Continuity Management
6. Information Security Management
7. Supplier Management

Service Transition – 7 processes

1. Transition Planning and Support
2. Change Management
3. Service Asset and Configuration Management
4. Release and Deployment Management
5. Service Validation and Testing
6. Evaluation
7. Knowledge Management

Service Operation – 5 processes

1. Event Management
2. Incident Management
3. Request Fulfillment
4. Problem Management
5. Access Management

Continual service improvement – 3 processes

1. The 7 improvement process
2. Service Measurement
3. Service Reporting

Relationship between ITIL Processes – 1

Basic! yes! very! But don’t be surprised if there are people who have been managing these processes and still do not completely understand these relationships.

This diagram however cannot be termed complete and there is a lot that can be added to it. Will write about the process relationships in detail in the next few posts!

ITIL V3 – Structure and Certifications

Though it is expected that most people know about this already, however ITSM in my opinion is about revisiting the importants, refreshing the memory and keepings things in radar. Here is a good summarization of  the certifications related to ITIL v3 and what roles do they fit in, written by Rick Lemieux on DITY!

Click here to download the pdf.

Call for Authors – ITIL V3 Refresh

OGC had recently released a document around planned updates for ITIL V3 books, and has now requested for authors to bid for the refresh. Read the detailed pdf here.

I would have written a summary myself, however I think this summarizes the document well!

When is it an incident?

Rob England in a recent post brought up the topic of distinction between a Call and Incident in the ITIL V3 Books! I then went to the book and started reading through the IM Process and did not really find a classification there, which Rob also confirmed in his update on the post here.

Now if I look at it closely, ITIL V3 book in a way achnowledges that the source of an Incident can be more than one places, e.g. Event Management, Web Interface, User Phone Call, Email technical staff, but really does not talk about where a call or an event would become an Incident (Fig 4.2 in the Service Operations book)

In my experience with two IM Processes here is how it worked

1. The User Interfacing process was Call Management (based off IBM EOPs) and it determined where the call should go and be tracked. In case of an Incident, it would trigger an incident management process for service restoration and incident resolution, for the rest, it would either end at the Service Desk as a question which was answered or a first contact resolution or would trigger a request fulfillment process. This was based on IBM EOPs, which I felt were much more comprehensive and implementable than ITIL recommended processes.

2. Everything that comes to the Service Desk is a Service Management ticket, and becomes an incident ticket only when its determined that it is an interruption to service and has an SLA impact

In both the cases, there was a many to one relationship between the calls/SM tickets to Incidents… multiple calls could be logged or multiple SM tickets could be logged for the same issue if there were multiple users calling or logging tickets themselves using a web interface, however these tickets would be associated with one single master incident which would then be published and pursued  for resolution and service restoration.

From an ITIL V3 perspective, I think one would have to leverage on the Event Management process to be able to log events and then classify them into Incidents, however leaves the How-To questions, and Service Requests aside, and does not tell how to deal with them.

Whitepaper – Integrating 6 Sigma and ITIL for CSI

Whitepaper from Jack Probst and Gary Case from Pink Elephant about integration of Six Sigma and ITIL.

Click here to download the pdf.

OGC plans update to ITIL Core Publications

OGC recently released the project requirements for an update to the ITIL Core publications.

The aim for this update project would be :

• To update the publications in line with a number of issues raised in the Change Control Log. Not everything will be addressed – some technical changes are seen as too much for this evolutionary change
• To remedy the inconsistencies that exist between the content and layout of the publications
• To answer some of the criticisms that have been leveled at the core publications by the training community
• To simplify the Service Strategy publication to ensure that the concepts are readily understood and that the content is accessible to a greater number of users.

Some of the key updates which are in scope for this edition (not version) would be :

• Look at remedying inconsistencies within the content of the five books:
  • Roles need to be made consistent across the books, ensuring that the activities apply only to one role
  • Clarify that the organizational structures given as examples are indicative rather than prescriptive
• Restructure the guidance to ensure that all five publications are organized in the same way:
  • Ensure that each process has goals, purpose and objectives
  • Look at how the processes are dealt with, and ensure a common treatment for all
• Ensure that the books are aligned, w • here relevant, with guidance in MSP™, M_o_R®, PRINCE2® and P3O®.
• Give clear explanations and descriptions of roles and responsibilities
• Standardize the use of glossary definitions within the five titles. Ensure that the explanations in the text align with those in the glossary
• Update to the glossary to take account of the comments made in the Change Control Log
• Examine the definition and usage of the roles of Product Manager and Service Owner
• Ensure that service catalogue manager appears within Service Operation
• Redesign the content according to OGC’s updated style guidelines.

Please see the official document here.

Information Source : OGC Best Management Practice Website.

I personally think this is a good idea to make these updates. Having gone through the Service Strategy and Design books myself, I found them very difficult to understand and vague. This should help those two books and the entire audience who refers back to the core publications.

Also click here for some interesting thoughts and discussion on this topic.

Text source for this post : Project Requirements Document for update to Core Publications

ITIL V3 Certifications

Here are a few official links for ITIL V3 certifications….

1. ITIL V3 Qualification Scheme

2. ITIL V2-V3 Credit System