Category: Notes

Define processes and functions

• Process – a structured set of activities designed to accomplish a specific objective.
  • A process takes one or more defined inputs and turns them into defined outputs
  • A process consists of actions, dependencies, and sequence
• Function – A team or group of people and the other resources or tools that are used to carry out a process or process activities. example – service desk
• Group – a number of peoplle who are performing similar activities
  • not a formal structure
• Team – formal structure; people working together with a common objective
• Department – Formal organizational structure within an org.  Usually hierarchical
• Division – a number of departments that have been grouped together, often self-contained within an organization
• Service Desk – Single point of contact for users into the IT service provider
• Tools
  • Service Automation –
  • Capacity Management
  • Knowledge Capture

 

 

Define and explain the concept of stakeholders in service management

Stakeholders – have an interest in an organization, service, or project and are potentially interested or engaged in the actives, resources, targets, or deliverables from service management

• Types of Stakeholders
  • Customers –  people who buy goods or services.  Agree on and define the targets in the SLA with the service provider.  Have financial authority over the services provided
  • Users – people who user the serivce on a day to day basis.  They are not customers because they aren’t paying for it directly
  • Suppliers – third parties responsible for the supply of goods and services required to deliver the services (hardware, software, etc)

Define and explain the concept of IT service management

Ooh goody, more definitions

IT Service Management (ITSM) – The implementation and management of Quality IT services that neet the needs of the business.

Service Level Agreement (SLA) – Describes the service, the targets for performance, and the responsibilities of the customer and the IT service provider

IT Service Provider – A service provider that provides IT services to internal or external customers

• Types of IT Service Provider
  • Type I: Internal Service – located withing the business unit it supports
  • Type II: Shared Services Unit – Provides services to more than one business unit.  Central IT for a large multi-divisional organisation
  • Type III: External Service Provider – provides IT services to external customers (outsourcing)

 

Define and explain the concept of service management

Service Management – a set of specialized organizational capabilities for providing value to customers in the form of services

 

Define and explain the concept of internal and external services

Internal Services – delivered between departments of business units within the same organization.

External Services – delivered to an external customer

Who cares?  Why the distinction?  To differentiate services that produce a business outcome  from those that support internal activity.  You need to link an internal to an external to show value.  It will make a difference in getting funding, etc.

 

Define and explain the concept of internal and external customer

Internal Customer – Work in the same org as the service provider.

External Customer – Not employed the the organization.  Pay for services through a legally binding contract

 

Describe and explain why ITIL is successful

• Because it’s vendor-neutral.  Owned by the UK government
• It’s non-prescriptive.  “Adopt and Adapt”
• Best Practice  – the accumulated knowledge and guidance from various sources

Describe the concept of best practices in the public domain

The book defines best practice as: “proven activities or processes that have been successfully used by multiple organizations ”

You may be surprised to lean that best practices do not grow on trees, nor are they delivered by storks.   They are created by sources, and aggregated by enablers.  Sources include things like:

• Proprietary knowledge
  • Specific to one organization and difficult to share
• Standards and Industry Best Practice
  • This is stuff like six sigma, ISO 20000, etc.
• Training and Academic research
  • You can go to Six Sigma class for a standardized education experience

TL;TR – Standards are best because they work in multiple organizations and can be communicated effectively by standardized training plans.