ITSM Newsletter Volume 1

Preface
Last month and for most of last year we discussed in detail several important areas of IT Service Management that included an ITSM service provisioning model, multiple entry points into the model, and various critical areas such as Change, Configuration, and Service Level Management. We also looked at the important role of the ITSM Manager. Specifically, we looked at the Activities and Roles, Responsibilities, and Activities for this role.

With this first month's Newsletter of the new year, I would like to close out last year with some reflections and a presentation of a new ITSM solution methodology called Enterprise Infrastructure Architecture.

Housekeeping and Acknowledgements
Before we begin I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the past year's achievements.

First, I would like to thank you all for subscribing to this Newsletter. Your support and encouragement is welcomed and appreciated. Since the first issue of this Newsletter appeared in March of last year, subscription has quadrupled thanks to your referrals.

Secondly, your patronage of the website, www.itsm.info from which this Newsletter is produced, has caused traffic to increase tenfold since it's launch a year ago.

Thank you all for your continued patronage and support!

ITSM Areas of Interest
Based on the activity of the www.itsm.info website over the past year, I've compiled a list of statistics I'd like to share with you as indications of ITSM areas of interest.

Area Interest Activity Percentages:
Based on approximately a half a million website hits and tens of thousands of visitors, the following is a list of high activity ITSM areas (normalized percentages were used):
    1) Service Level Management - 18.4%
    2) ITSM Self Assessments - 17.1%
    3) ITSM Infrastructure Planning - 15.3%
    4) ITSM Assessment Methods - 11.2%
    5) ITSM Business Practices - 5%
    6) ITSM Best Practice Methods - 4.7%
    7) ITSM Service Continuity - 4.3%
    8) ITSM Project Management - 4.2%
    9) Consolidation Topics - 4.1%
    10) ITSM Customer Relationship Topics - 2.8%
    11) ITSM Data Management Topics - 2.5%
    12) ITSM Change Management - 2.3%
    13) ITSM Problem and Incident Management - 2%
    14) ITSM Configuration Management - 1.8%
    15) Capacity Management - 1.6%
    16) ITSM Release Management - 1.4%
    17) ITSM Availability Management - 1.3%

   • 56% of the search engine criteria was for ITIL. 20% was for ITSM. 24% was for other Service Delivery and Service Support qualifiers.
   • 16% of all download activity was from hardware/software/services vendors.
   • More than 75% of the ITIL/ITSM activity was for companies and organizations outside of the United States.

Area Interest Activity Observations and Findings:
Based on approximately 400,000 website hits and tens of thousands of visitors, the following is a list of high activity ITSM areas:
   • There is a very high level of interest in the area of Service Level Management, specifically for Service Level Agreements (SLA). A useable template for them, how to create one if needed, how to populate them, and how to use them. Surprisingly, other areas of Service Level Management such as aligning to Business Requirements and developing a Service Catalog showed a very small amount of activity.
   • There is a very high level of interest in doing ITSM self-assessments (and assessments in general) to determine the maturity level of organizations within the ITIL/ITSM framework.
   • There is a very high level of interest ITSM best practices, methods, and infrastructure planning to determine how organizations can best do ITIL/ITSM.
   • There is a relatively small amount of interest in ITIL/ITSM in the United States as compared to the UK, Europe, Pacific Rim and Basin, Asia, Mexico, and Canada.
   • There is a relatively small amount of interest in how to do management in the various ITIL/ITSM Service Delivery and Service Support areas.

Area Interest Activity Informal Conclusions:
Based on the above observations and findings the following implications and conclusions can be drawn:
   1) Service Level Management, specifically Service Level Agreements (SLA) seem to be a "hot" buzz item although what it takes to fully support them with a mature Service Level Management ITSM effort is not. Implied is that control of IT is more important that the management of it.
   2) Understanding ITIL/ITSM maturity is important but taking the appropriate actions to enhance the maturity is not a major consideration. Perhaps the size, scope, and complexity of an ITIL/ITSM implementation effort is prohibitive.
   3) It appears that ITIL/ITSM best practices, methods, and infrastructure planning is appreciated as critical in determining how organizations can best manage their enterprises and align IT to business requirements but what it takes to implement them are not.
   4) Creating and using SLA's in addition to having ITIL/ITSM best practice methods is recognized as being important however, implementing ITIL/ITSM Service Delivery and Service Support areas is not a critical issue at present.
   5) Despite the attention paid to ITIL/ITSM by various major hardware/software/services vendors within the United States, customers have not yet fully appreciated/adopted ITIL/ITSM best practice methods.

RL Consulting Announces New ITSM Tools and Workshops

Utilizing SolutionMethod™ proprietary questions and evaluation processes, RL Consulting employs 3 automated tools; ITSM Assessment Worksheet, ITSM ROI Worksheet, and ITSM Implementation Readiness Worksheet.

1, 2, and 3 Day ITSM Workshops that offer a broad range of training beginning with Management level, through Strategy and Planning, to Implementation.

To Learn More About These Tools and Workshops and How They Can Help You - Click Here -

Enterprise Infrastructure Architecture
Enterprise Infrastructure Architecture is a seamless, best-of-breed methodology and service designed to assist organizations in delivering, managing and supporting distributed systems using IT Service Management best practices based on ITIL standards. Results, action plans and risk areas identified from this method can provide an early-warning system to IT management relative to deployment and operational requirements needed for the project’s deployment and support.
The Enterprise Infrastructure Architecture and the Assessment Service associated with it, is typically the beginning function of a multi-phased process, used to evaluate and implement a comprehensive plan within the client/server lifecycle. The areas identified include but are not limited to the following areas or project phases:
   • Enterprise Infrastructure Assessment (Production Readiness Audit)
   • Design methods used, business goal alignment
   • Use and adaptation of best practice standards
   • Hardware platform and operating systems
   • Application tool suite and DBMS
   • Enterprise Management Disciplines
   • Configuration and Change Management
   • Availability Management
   • Capacity and Performance Management
   • Financial Management
   • Data Management
   • Network Management
   • Problem and Incident Management
   • Security
   • Application and Release Management
   • Service Level Management
   • Services and Delivery Methods
   • Business support
   • Systems Architecture Design
   • Tool Selection
   • Product Integration
   • Deployment
   • Support and Maintenance
This structured approach for distributed systems (client/server) is engineered around business goals, critical success factors and proven technology. This process is delivered independently of the application or platform decisions previously made by organizations. The objective of Enterprise Infrastructure Architecture is not to accommodate the appropriateness or selection of specific platforms or applications per se, but rather to assist IT management in maximizing these investments, and reducing additional operational risks often found in new client/server technologies and achieve a better alignment business requirements to IT service provisioning.
The infrastructure model used in delivering and presenting Enterprise Infrastructure Architecture model and the associated Assessment Service, is just one component of the client/server or distributed computing lifecycle. This model is used as the starting point for planning and design of distributed systems. During the assessment process, the functional areas mentioned above are reviewed, but specific focus would be given to server and workload performance and consolidation. The overview of the infrastructure model is shown below.

The Enterprise Infrastructure Assessment is based on a solid business and requirements-driven approach, derived from the SolutionMethod methodology and perspectives from the systems and structures outlines in the methodology.

Additional strategies and plans can be expanded after an initial assessment is complete, and the customer desires to move to the next level or levels of ITIL/ITSM maturity, architecture design, or IT strategic planning.

To download a complete presentation of Enterprise Infrastructure Architecture - Click Here -

Is Your Company Triple "A" Rated?
   • Aware - Of internal and external factors that could impact your business
   • Adaptable - To change the focus of your company's resources and expertise depending on changes in internal and external factors
   • Agile - To focus your company's resources and expertise effectively and efficiently in the quickest manner possible

What if you could do this proactively?

RL Consulting Introduces:
The Proactive Business Model, Realization of Benefits, and
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One step beyond IT Service Management,
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Downloads
White Papers:
   » SLA Description and Templates
   » Consolidation Questionnaires
   » Service Continuity Methods
   » Project Management Practices
   » Developing a Communication Plan
   » Data Management Process
   » Proactive Business Model
   » Realization of Benefits
   » SAGA Business Strategy
   » Enterprise Infrastructure Architecture

Service Briefs:
   » ITSM Maturity Assessment
   » Incident and Problem Management
   » Service Continuity
   » Configuration and Change Management
   » Service Level Management
   » Capacity Management
   » Availability Management
   » Release Management

- Click Here -

Additional Information
Visit www.itsm.info to learn about ITSM, IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), and SolutionMethod™ (a Policy Based ITSM Approach). In addition, you can download free and informative white papers, questionnaires, and service briefs. This includes more in-depth information on the topics presented in this newsletter.

To learn how RL Consulting can assist in achieving IT Service Management goals and our full range of solutions:
Contact us at RL_Consulting@ITSM.info or phone us at 602-996-6830

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*~*~ Our Wishes that You All had a Healthy and Happy Holiday Season ~*~*

Volume 1 - January, 2003
This newsletter and the information contained herein is maintained by Rick Leopoldi and property of RL Information Consulting LLC.