Masaryk University
Faculty of Informatics
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Process Analysis and
Documentation of Service
Delivery in the IT Organization
according to ITIL
Master’s thesis
Tomáš Dedrle
Brno, spring 2015
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Process Analysis and Documentation of Service Delivery in ..., Study notes of Service Management
The thesis analyzes ITIL framework from theoretical and practical point of view. It presents the basic concepts and overview of IT service management.
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Masaryk University Faculty of Informatics
}w !"#$%&'()+,-./012345<yA|
Process Analysis and
Documentation of Service
Delivery in the IT Organization
according to ITIL
Master’s thesis
Tomáš Dedrle
Brno, spring 2015
Declaration
Hereby I declare, that this paper is my original authorial work, which I have worked out by my own. All sources, references and literature used or excerpted during elaboration of this work are properly cited and listed in complete reference to the due source.
Brno, May 21, 2015 Tomáš Dedrle
Advisor: Ing. Aleš Studený
ii
Abstract
The thesis analyzes ITIL framework from theoretical and practical point of view. It presents the basic concepts and overview of IT service management. The theoretical part is primarily concerned with the ITIL processes and principles related to IT service support. Besides the theory, this thesis describes how ITIL is utilized in an international IT organization. It presents and discusses IT processes along with suggested improvements and how these enhance the quality of service and improve customer satisfaction. The thesis also includes process diagrams for IP telephony service support which provide a specific example of how ITIL service-oriented approach can be applied in similar organizations.
iv
Keywords
ITSM, ITIL, process, service support, Incident Management, Request Fulfillment, Problem Management, Change Management
v
- 1 IT Service Management
- 1.1 IT Service
- 1.2 IT Service Provider
- 1.3 Process
- 1.4 Function
- 1.5 ITSM standards
- 1.5.1 ISO/IEC
- 1.5.2 COBIT
- 1.5.3 ISO/IEC
- 1.5.4 ISO/IEC
- 2 ITIL
- 2.1 Service Strategy
- 2.2 Service Design
- 2.3 Service Transition
- 2.4 Service Operation
- 2.5 Continual Service Improvement
- 3 Service Support
- 3.1 Service Desk
- 3.2 Event Management
- 3.3 Incident Management
- 3.4 Request Fulfillment
- 3.5 Problem Management
- 3.6 Change Management
- 3.7 Service Level Management
- 4 Analysis
- 4.1 Motivation
- 4.2 Organization
- 4.3 Incident Management Process
- 4.3.1 Incident Identification and Logging
- 4.3.2 Incident Categorization
- 4.3.3 Incident Prioritization
- 4.3.4 Incident Escalation and Investigation
- 4.3.5 Incident Resolution and Recovery
- 4.3.6 Incident Closure
- 4.3.7 Incident Management Process Improvement
- 4.4 Request Fulfillment Process
- 4.4.1 Request Logging and Categorization
- 4.4.2 Request Prioritization and Execution
- 4.4.3 Request Closure
- 4.4.4 Request Fulfillment Process Improvement
- 4.5 Problem Management Process
- 4.5.1 Problem Logging and Categorization
- 4.5.2 Problem Prioritization and Investigation
- 4.5.3 Problem Implementation and Testing
- 4.5.4 Problem Closure and Record
- 4.6 Change Management Process
- 4.6.1 Change Logging
- 4.6.2 Change Classification and Authorization
- 4.6.3 Change Implementation and Testing
- 4.6.4 Change Review and Closure
- 4.7 Results and Evaluation
- 5 Conclusion
- Appendix A Resolution Set Template
- Appendix B BPMN Reference Guide
- Appendix C List of Electronic Attachments
Introduction
Organizations have been continuously developing over the years as well as technologies. However, the goal remains the same: increase the business added-value along with high customer satisfaction and economic profits. Information technology has become a crucial part of every company and businesses are dependent on reliability of the technological resources. Every organization is different, and so are the requirements for business. The larger the organization, the more difficult is to manage all the resources. Well-defined processes and policies are key in order to efficiently manage and support business needs nowadays. This nontrivial task can be accomplished by adopting ITIL best practices. ITIL presents a guidance on how to proactively manage IT services with the goal to provide an improved level of service to customers, own departments, and own employees. It can help to design, develop, and implement an efficient information technology delivery system. The theoretical part of this thesis describes service management as a practice along with other standards and related terminology. It is followed with an overview of the main elements, general concepts, and the terminology that is used in the ITIL service lifecycle. The thesis covers the key principles, models, the relationship between the lifecycle phases, selected processes, functions, and roles. The main objective of this thesis is to analyze the current status of the service delivery and assurance part in the organization. The theoretical background is applied and shown in the real international organization. The aim was to find potential problems and adequate solutions as well as document these processes and upload them to the organization’s shared drive. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is to help understand and visualize these concepts to internal company employees as well as other people who can utilize this output and apply it in their own business.
1 IT Service Management
1.2 IT Service Provider
IT Service Provider provides IT services to customers. We distinguish between two main types. Internal service providers are part of a division of a large corporation or the same business unit. On the contrary, external service providers are part of a different organization from their customers. Using an external service provider is known as outsourcing. Both types may have internal and external customers. [3]
1.3 Process
Another term which needs to be defined is a process. It is a set of distinct measurable activities with one or more inputs that are structured to accomplish a particular objective. Processes need to be measurable in the context of cost, quality assurance, and resources. They respond to a specific event and deliver specific results to a customer or stakeholder. [4]
Figure 1.1: Simplified Vacation Request
- IT Service Management
The figure 1.1 illustrates a simplified example of vacation request for a better understanding of how a process works. The trigger for this process is a new request for vacation from an employee and is followed by a sequence of steps. Once the requirement is registered, a supervisor has to decide whether the request will be approved or rejected and inform the employee about the result. If the vacation request is approved, the supervisor updates a shift plan accordingly. The objective is to control vacation requests of the organization from the initial point to its approval or rejection. This illustration has been created in Bizagi Modeler^1 process editor.
1.4 Function
A function is a team or group of people and the tools specialized to perform one or more processes or activities and responsible for specific outcomes. One function may be divided and performed by several de- partments in large organizations as well as multiple functions can be performed by one person or group in smaller companies. [4]
ITIL describes four major functions:
∙ Service Desk;
∙ Technical Management;
∙ IT Operations Management;
∙ Application Management. [4]
1.5 ITSM standards
This thesis is focused on the use of ITIL best practices which is an ITSM framework. However, ITIL will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter. The purpose of this section is to present the reader with other ITSM standards and frameworks.
- http://www.bizagi.com/
4 Analysis
- IT Service Management
1.5.4 ISO/IEC 27000
ISO/IEC 27000 series is a set of international standards that addresses information security in organizations. ISO 27001 is the main standard for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving an information security management system. It provides confidence to stakeholders and preserves the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. All legal, physical and technical controls are covered by applying a risk management process. ISO 27001 standard is applicable to all sizes and types of organization. [8]
2 ITIL
ITIL stands for Information Technology Infrastructure Library. It is a library of documents, a framework that presents the best practices and guidance for managing IT services. ITIL outlines a set of management processes and procedures to deliver of high quality IT services, high value in IT operations as well as achieve high financial quality. The key objectives of ITIL are to align IT services with the current and future needs, to obtain an improved level of service to provide a continual improvement. There are many benefits of using ITIL framework. It is vendor neutral so it is easier to make collaboration between organizations as they share a common language. Service agreements are more customer and structure based. Infrastructure and services are better controlled. It is important to keep in mind that ITIL is a process framework, not a solution for a single IT function or department. Each organization is unique and will customize the best practices to its own needs. [1] ITIL was started in the late 1980’s in the United Kingdom by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA)^1. Many large organizations and government agencies throughout Europe had adopted ITIL by the early 1990’s. As a result of the great popularity and to reflect changes in IT industry, the UK’s OGC published ITIL version 2 in 2000. ITIL version 3 including five core books was released in 2007. It was updated four years later in 2011 and is currently managed by Axelos^2. [9] ITIL (version 2011) describes the service lifecycle in five phas- es/stages as shown in the figure 2.1. These phases are not totally separated. They can overlap and there is a dependency among them. This lifecycle diagram represents one business approach to ITIL. Pre- sented order is not a condition and might be optimal in the early life-cycle of an organization. However, not every process of every service will necessarily be implemented and not even in the same order. Orga- nization may use their existing infrastructure and bypass the Service Strategy and Design phases. [1]
- CCTA is now called OGC (Office of Government Commerce)
- https://www.axelos.com/
2. ITIL
∙ increased competitive advantage through quick response and ef- fective decision to changes in the business environment;
∙ ensuring a consistent and repeatable approach for delivering value. [4]
2.2 Service Design
The main goal of ITIL Service Design phase is to develop and design new or changed IT services in concert with governance, processes and policies in order to realize the strategy and to facilitate the deployment of these services. [3]
Value to business:
∙ reduction of TCO^3 (Total Cost of Ownership);
∙ improvement of quality and consistency of service;
∙ strategic alignment with organization;
∙ improvement in IT governance;
∙ efficient ITSM, decision making and alignment with customer value and strategies;
∙ improvement in implementation of new or changed services;
∙ streamlined IT processes. [3]
2.3 Service Transition
ITIL Service Transition phase purpose is to plan and manage resource requirements to establish new or changed services in efficient and effec- tive manner. It is the time when prepared and designed services become realized. Service changes and interruptions along with the associated risks are managed. All modifications should be consistent with service
- TCO is defined as a methodology used to help make investment decisions. TCO assesses the full lifecycle cost, not just the initial cost. [2]
2. ITIL
design before they go into operation. [10]
Value to business:
∙ higher volumes of successful changes;
∙ minimum unpredicted impact on production services;
∙ construction of modular, repeatable, and predictable processes;
∙ improvement of service assets^4 and configuration control;
∙ better customer, user and staff satisfaction. [10]
2.4 Service Operation
The purpose of ITIL Service Operation phase is to deliver and support IT services at agreed levels to business users and customers. ITIL guides to coordinate service activities, manage the ongoing technology used to deliver these services while meeting expectations of the business, customers, and partners. A value is delivered by supporting the individ- ual solutions of the customer needs. This phase is critical for ongoing operations, daily functions and involves the data collection, analysis, monitoring and reporting. [11]
Value to business:
∙ optimized handling of service outages;
∙ root cause analysis;
∙ reduction of unplanned labour and costs;
∙ improvement of an organization’s security policy;
∙ better productivity and quality of business ensured by quick and effective access to standard services;
∙ higher customer satisfaction through regular updates about the progress of their service requests;
- Service Asset is any capability or resource of a service provider. [2]
2. ITIL
∙ more effective services, processes and expenses;
∙ IT services remain continuously aligned to business requirements;
∙ improvements in all lifecycle stages through monitoring and re- porting. [12]
3 Service Support
“If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing.” [13]
ITIL processes and principles covered in this chapter are related to the service support processes analyzed in this thesis. They are involved, directly or indirectly, in Incident Management, Request Fulfillment, Problem Management, and Change Management. Therefore, it is neces- sary to clearly understand these processes before the actual analysis.
3.1 Service Desk
The key component of a service operation phase is a Service Desk. The role of this function is to provide the single point of contact (SPOC) between IT organization and users when a service disruption occurs or for managing service requests. The service desk is responsible for dealing with day-to-day activities, basic troubleshooting, creating and escalating tickets to appropriate teams, tracking progress and informing involved parties. The goal is to quickly restore normal service operations, minimize the impact of outages and achieve a high level of customer satisfaction. It is a critical part of an IT organization due to its visibility as a first line diagnosis and customer relations. A good service desk can compensate for deficiencies in the IT organization. ITIL describes several possibilities for the way a service desk can be deployed. Local Service Desk is located within or close to the premises of end users. Every location has its own department. Centralized Service Desk is centrally managed from a single location or small number of locations. Virtual Service Desk support groups are divided by location, language or division. The virtual model gives the impression to end users that there is only one centralized service desk. This solution of providing first-line support is typically used by large multinational organizations. [11]
Value to business:
∙ first-line contact with internal and external customers;