Applying ITIL Best Practices for Network Management and Operations
Applying ITIL Best Practices for Network Management and Operations
Abstract
This paper presents the application of ITIL best practices for operations and management so as to assess service availability form one end to another in the internet service delivery environment. The paper will show the main architecture and concepts of ITIL and how it works. The paper will present a case of its usage and the reasons for this technology existence. ITIL is a technology that solves certain problems as will be shown in the paper. A comparison of ITIL with other services or technology will be discussed. Finally, the market segment and category of that use this technology will be presented.
Information Technology Infrastructure Library
In the past years, businesses are becoming more dependent on Information Technology for fulfilling various organizational objectives. This is mainly as a result of the increasing demand towards IT services as a way of meeting the customers’ expectations and requirements. The availability of service is one of the most essential factors in the delivery of services in an e-business that is highly competitive. Service availability further presents a crucial aspect of customer satisfaction and further builds the reputation of the company. IT use in fulfilling customer’s demands enables the company to meet a wider range of customers, unlike the competitor. Various improvements and efforts have been done to ensure the availability of services in the technology industry.
There are various risks that can be caused by process, technology or human error in ensuring service availability. These risks can occur at any point of the whole Information technology structure and in the management process. There is the need for visibility in ensuring effective service delivery in components such as, operational processes, information systems and applications. Establishing the use of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is one way that will help businesses to make informed decisions on their businesses especially in the IT resources investment so as to provide the best cost effective solutions that will ensure that the level of service requirements is according to customer’s expectations.
What it is
The British Office of Government Commerce developed the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) to act as a framework of approaches of best practices aimed at facilitating high quality IT services delivery (Van Bon et.al, 2002). The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) presents a set of management procedure aimed at supporting businesses to achieve a value and quality for money in the operations of Information Technology. The best practices of ITIL on availability management aim at ensuring that incidents that affect service delivery do not occur. The ITIL framework also ensures that there are effective and timely actions whenever incidences that affect delivery occur. Availability of services is related to the concepts of maintainability and reliability.
The ITIL is an interrelated set of the desired practices derived from various international, private and public sector. These best practices originated from the United Kingdom are now applicable all round the globe. The ITIL best practices offer a framework in the management of the continuous cycle of services provided buy IT. Adherence to these best practices results to an increased level of system uptime, improved security and faster means of resolving problems. The ITIL recommendations cannot be audited. The practices, however, help in the implemented of standards that act as a benchmark in IT service management.
The main goal of ITIL standards is to ensure that customers have access to the right services that enable proper business functions. The links service delivery books and service support derived from book entitled Service Operation. The book explains, introduces, and provides extensive details of control and delivery activities so as to attain operational excellence on the daily business activities.
Main architecture and concepts
The ITIL Service Operation concerns service support conducted by the service desks. The main concepts addressed are on Problem management, Incident management, Configuration management, Release management and Change management. These five processes enable a company to have control over the lifecycle of incidences aright from incident development to the time a solution is attained. This can be through new release of system change. The adoption of ITIL means that a company will have effective Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Solutions that will enables the automation of processes with an IT centre. ITIL identifies these processes while ALM will support the implementation of these processes.
Through automating, managing, and simplifying the application lifecycle stages, the function of the ALM is to provide the required infrastructure for the implementation of ITIL. This results into a dynamic and powerful IT organization that is well incorporated into the business strategy. The guiding principle of ITIL is to ensure that the delivery of IT services helps in meeting the requirements of businesses processes. The standards of ITIL allow an efficient and effective deign, maintenance, and operation of IT based services and other underlying components of services within a short duration.
The ITIL, when used in service management, allows the supplier to ensure that services facilitate the attainment of the needed results of a client. It enables the suppliers to understand the services they are providing and for them to identify the values of services so as to enable the customers to manages risks and costs associated with the expected services (Cartlidge et al, 2007). Cartlidge et al (2007) defines a service as forms of providing value to customers through the facilitation of the expected results without the supplier taking ownership of risks and costs (Cartlidge et al, 2007).
With this understanding, the client is the one to identify the value and this will enable the customer to be motivated to get other services based on the results. This explanation shows the relationships between the value of services and how to ensure that these services are easily obtainable based on the desired results. The main goal of the management of IT services is attain an alignment of business requirements and to provide effective support. The significance of this management can be best understood through the identification of service objectives and how to help providers in their delivery. The ITIL comes in to provide a framework that will ensure that best practices in IT services. The guidelines act as benchmarks for organizations in their effort to make improvements and during the operation progress of IT services and in the development of new businesses (Fernandez, 2008).
The adoption of ITIL practices enables the organization to attain a high level of maturity and to ensure that it provides high quality services in an efficient and effective way based on the strategic IT assets. The main concepts within Service Strategy are indicated in the third ITIL version of the first five books. Services Strategy provides the basic guidelines for the development, implementation and designing of good management practices of IT services. This best practice does not only refer to organizational capacity, but act as the strategic asset of the organization. Service management according to Iqbal and Nieves (2007) is a set of organizational and specialized capabilities that enhance the value to customers through services (Iqbal & Nieves, 2007).
Service Design is based on the best procedures on developing services and designing of services as well as the whole process involved in service management. The ITIL provides the discussion on methods applicable in converting strategic objectives and designing of principles. The service design does not only deal with new services, but also accounts for the existing services. This also involves the necessary improvements and changes that should be done on the existing services. The ITIL guidelines on service design further looks at services continuity and the need to ensure that these services are according to the recommendations and guidelines of ITIL (Iqbal & Nieves, 2007).
Service Transitions is another concept of ITIL. This is the guideline on capabilities and enhancement development of new services or modification of the existing ones to be shifted into an operating environment. The Service Transition guidelines offer the requirements of services strategy involved in the designing phase of a service. Adhering to the requirements enables organizations to execute their services and to effectively manages risks of failures and to enable innovations (Iqbal & Nieves, 2007).
There is also the concept of Service Operation that deals with the delivery of Service Level Agreements to customers and users. The objective of Service Operations is to ensure effective management of technology, applications and infrastructure that support the delivery of services. A job that is well implemented or designed will not lead to proper general of value unless it is effectively managed and controlled during the Service operation (Cannon; Wheeldon, 2007).
Last is the concept of Continual Improvement Process. This is a guideline that helps in the Maintenance and creation of value through design improvement and in the operation and implementation of services. Continual Process Improvement mainly aim is achieved via the combination of methods, principles, and practices of change management, quality management and capacity improvement. Based on the provided guidelines, organizations can make improvements for large and small scale in operational efficiency, service quality and continuity of the business. The guidelines impact on results and efforts of improvements to the design, service, transition, operation, and strategy of the business (Iqbal & Nieves, 2007).
ITIL work
The aim of ITIL aims to inform CIOs, IT managers and directors and IT service providers. ITIL also aim to inform end-users and customers who are involved in the establishment of positive relationships with their information technology. It also informs business managers and any organization dealing with IT services. ITIL provides a professional and systematic approach for the provision and management of IT services. Adopting the guidelines of ITIL assures the companies of reduced costs, improved customer satisfaction based on a professional approach in the delivery of services. There are also improvements of IT services best on the use of best and proven practice processes. Adopting the ITIL also means improved productivity and setting of guidance and standards. Based on the specification of ITIL, it is possible to benefit from improved delivery of service to third party. Adoption of ITIL is also associated with improved experience and skills.
ITIL work in the delivery of customer focused services. This is through the identification of projects internal stake holders so as to ensure that their targets are well met. ITIL undertakes a rigorous approach at its initial stages and ensures that the system works seamlessly, and this frees the staff so that they can concentrate on delivery. The Work of ITIL is also to ensure cost effectiveness. This means that even as organizations work within the set budget they can manage to provide high quality services of IT.
This is mainly due to the ability of ITIL to deal with any potential challenges, in the operation, implementation, and planning stage. These problems are identified early enough. ITIL also works to ensure that there is increased productivity and motivation. The approach of ITIL provides the staff members with confidence that their work is guided by professional discipline and not just any other job done randomly. When staff members begin to apply the practical systems and best practices to IT implementation and planning they will appreciate their achievement and will help them gain from the virtuous learning cycle.
ITIL service exist
Since the introduction of ITIL, there has been debate concerning its values especially on the concern of whether or not it adds value to companies. These companies question on the actual factors that should actually make them to consider the adoption of ITL-based processes. Critiques have questioned whether ITIL is just another buzzword to add to the already existing complex legislation, regulations, and mandates of this era. Supporters of ITL think that the adoption of ITIL practices can actually help organizations to add value on the operations of organization and help them benefit from operational efficiencies that they initially intended to deliver.
ITIL was develop as a result of the needed for best practices and standards in service provision across the wider private and public sector organizations. The framework of ITIL brings together technology, processes, and people that share a common and accepted global standards and terminologies. These shared principles aid the parties comprising of clients and suppliers in communication. This will help them improve their understanding on the aspects to be done and to align them to business goals and needs. ITIL is a framework that is no prescriptive. It has no mandate for its adoption enforcement, and there are there any strict rules and laws that require organizations to follow. Many organizations, in fact, do prefer to consider the selective approach in the adoption of ITIL guidelines. This means that the organizations have the liberty to select the specific operational functions, such as, incident management and configuration management or any other that they find helpful in their business.
The frame work aims at ensuring that greater alignment of IT operations and businesses so that IT capable achieving the needs businesses and provide the business without other additional costs ITIL v3 is the latest version that is based on a lifecycle approach in ensuring that there is continuous improvement of businesses activities. It helps organizations to appraise at every stage so as to ensure that the information technology is as per the business needs. The framework of ITIL clearly describes the strategies that can be assigned in the management of services together with the business strategy. The framework explains the use of strategy that creates services designs. It details on how the strategies can be used in the actual business environment and set out the procedure of supporting the daily activities of the business.
Main value points
The framework o ITIL adds value to businesses, but the companies adopting the framework of ITIL have to be careful on the aspects that they are adopting so as to ensure that the benefit is much higher than the implementation cost. The main value of ITIL framework is that businesses can be supported by guidelines of running everyday services. They will enjoy the strategies that help in designing of services and strategies that can align the business stagey with service management. For example, the adoption of incident management gives the business a framework to improve on its method of handling incidents, and this will help in the reduction of incident effect on the organization.
The main objective of ITIL is to restore the service level in a fast way and in an approach that will least effect the end user and the business. This approach should also be one that has the least possible cost to the company. Another value that the organization can benefit with is the incident management. This is an ITIL discipline that supports the already established terms and processes so as to resolve problems quickly and to minimize the impact on the organization and the end user. Through this discipline, the organization can minimize the time spends in between the steps for quick restoration of services. For example, in dealing with the ‘Known Errors’ routine in a timely and consistent manner.
These processes can equally help in the management of problems through establishing a means for conducting cause analysis. This form of analysis will, enable organizations to reduce, prevent, and eliminate errors and incidents that constantly occur, thus leading to the streamlining of operations. Though the analysis may be valuable to the organization in the long run, it can impact of an additional burden to the administration in analyzing and resolving issues. Also, organizations may suffer from the challenge of identifying the common issues and trends and the impact that they have to the organization mainly due to limited resources. This shows that additional costs will have to be incurred at the initial stages to be improvement with time.
Problems are addressed
One of the proactive methods is to examine the problems that may arise during the adoption of changes in a business. The problems like employee resistance is anticipated and this can be dealt with effectively by communicating with the employees on the facts concerning the business changes. The proactive approach in dealing with problems can also apply across various IT services and aim to improve the delivery of these services across the organization. This can be achieved when the best practices of ITIL are adopted. Other problems that can be solved by ITIL include aspects that tamper with quality, efficiency and costs. In fact, organizations that have adopted the best practices of ITIL have save up to 10% of Information Technology costs without tampering with service delivery quality.
Comparison
ITIL technology relevance
CovesticmakesusesprocessesandactthebestpracticesassistorganizationwaysoperationsInformationorderprovidevaluebusinesses Covert contains long lists of implementation success of ITIL in various industries such as technology, automotive, and financial services industries. The sectors targeted by ITIL best practice guidelines are service sector, manufacturing, banking, insurance, retail, Diversified Finance, and transportation.
Category of products
ITIL main goal is to ensure that IT supports the primary functions of a business. This is mainly based on the reason that IT has increasingly become entangled to the business itself. The main targeted business category products of ITIL are business functions and the financial functions and also between business. The ITIL best practices can increase the value of products and a business service given to customers.
Summary
IT now has the power to break or make a business. The users of Information Technology do not entertain interruptions that affect services as a result of coding errors, outages, and routine system maintenance. As the world becomes more connected to the internet, many organizations and companies are seeking for ways to meet the needs of customers especially through automated services. This means that it is under pressure in the need to respond to business strategy. In keeping pace with the increase of IT expectations, the IT department is expected to undertake proactive strategy in resolving problems or in preventing the anticipated problems before they occur. These strategies have to takes place at the same rate as the changing of businesses. This paper has shown how ITIL can help in improving IT services across organizations and enterprises by helping them adopt the best practices of ITIL.
Reference
Santé T and Ermers J (2009)TOGAT and ITIL v 3 two frameworks white paper. Best management practices. Retrieved from
http://www.best-management-practice.com/gempdf/white_paper_togaf_9_itil_v3_sept09.pdf
On December 2nd 2012.
Fernandez, A & Abreu, V (2008) Implantando a governança de TI. Da estratégia à gestão dos processos e serviços. Rio de Janeiro: Brasport.
Cannon, D & Wheeldon, D (2007)ITIL v3 –service operation. Londres: Office of Government Commerce.
Cartlidge, A et al (2007) An introductory overview of ITIL v3. Londres: Capítulo do Reino Unido it SMF.
Iqbal. M & Nieves, M (2007)ITIL v3 – Service Strategy. Londres: Office of Government Commerce.
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