ITIL

To effectively implement service management software and ITIL service desk, communication between IT and its customers is vital. Merely looking at the business / IT interfaces without going back through the components of the service chain (agreements with Suppliers and other departments that support the services) is not good practice. Today, as businesses evolve and more stringent needs are required, process reviews are taking place and agreements renegotiated with customers. Defining services to be delivered is the first step to successfully implementing your ITIL service desk. Large outsourcing managed services companies are very good at defining their services, the time and cost involved. They...

I had never really paid much attention to ITIL training, let alone any other type of training, until the other day when I walked into the office and saw a big notice on the training board announcing an ITIL training course was commencing in the afternoon for all staff. As I read the notice, I realised my organisation had decided that they needed to be more serious about ITIL training. The Top Brass even believed that making a few team leaders aware of the pertinence of ITIL training was not enough; the entire organisation needed an ITIL training course. This meant all staff had to be involved, at every level within the organisation, as ITIL adoption and practice is a cultural change rather than just...

There are many choices available when looking for a service management tool and it can be very difficult to determine ITIL requirements. Many companies are moving to ITIL 3 these days and most of the tools on the market, only supports ITIL version 2. This is the main reason why most companies, decide to change their tool. Many organizations think it is important that the tool they choose is ITIL version 3 compliant or if it is only suitable for version 2, but when choosing Help Desk software, you should look into how much you can customize instead of it being compliant with ITIL 2 or 3. If you are able to customize your tool the way you want it, you can make your Help Desk solution fit any version...

Is one company's performance management simply service management by another name? Does it matter what you call it, as long as the end result is a better business? These were some of the questions buzzing around my head after two interviews I conducted, one with Lisa Erickson-Harris, a research director for Enterprise Management Associates, a research firm that focuses on infrastructure management, and the other with Nicola Sanna, CEO of performance management software provider Netuitive. In her September interview, Erickson-Harris attempted to clear up some of my confusion around the terms service level management (SLM), IT service management (ITSM) and business service management (BSM). She...

Johnson & Johnson Had A Problem I'm sure that when you picture yourself becoming a CIO in the future you see yourself sitting at the corporate strategy table with the CIO using your deep understanding of IT to help the company move faster and do more. Umm, one problem with that vision - you're not going to make it to the big table if you don't solve the problem of run-away IT costs. Johnson & Johnson's CIO had this very same problem and she tackled it using the ITIL framework. Maybe this would be a good time to look into that ITIL thing... Just What Is the ITIL? You've probably heard about the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL); however, do you really understand what it is? First off, it's an old (10...

Information technology infrastructure library which is also called ITIL is a collection of ideas and methods which will be useful for administering the information technology or information technology services. It is also known as ITSM or information technology service management, designed for the improvement of information technology and its operations. Information technology infrastructure library is a framework of the most superb processes assisting the allocation of first class information technology support. The (ITIL) sums up a wide ranging set of management methods to help the companies in accomplishing importance and brilliance in the function of information technology. Both systems are very...

Planning and conducting an IT Service Management (ITSM) assessment is a key activity undertaken when an IT organisation aims to improve its IT service effectiveness and business value. The key steps involved are highlighted below: Step 1: Understanding the purpose, scope and expected outcome of the assessment At this stage, it would be good to confirm the scope of the assessment, the objective and the expected outcome as well as to define what information is to be collected. The assessors (especially if they are not internal staff) would need to understand the business goals, IT goals, vision and mission and IT strategy. This is normally done through looking at documented IT strategy and plans and...

Remote Infrastructure Management (RIM) is the new global business management trend that helps in effective administration and significant cut back on infrastructure management, while also providing expert technical assistance. Companies which have implemented RIM lately have seen a significant progress in their  business development and have been saving up to 60% on their operating expenses. In-house IT management is a complex process which demands technical know-how along with a firm ground in latest technologies and most corporate enterprises choose to depend on service providers to do their work for them. Hiring proficient MSPs allows the business to expand the beyond boundaries. MSPs should...

Knowledge processes cannot be managed following the standard business process management paradigm. In the following article some guidelines are given for organizations willing to better manage their knowledge processes. In the last few years a lot has been written about Business Process Management, and about technologies supporting it such as BPMS, SOAP and Web Services. Most of these theories, tools and techniques refer to processes of a highly structured nature.Typically, BPM theorists and practitioners have focused on highly structured processes, like back-office processes of industrial or administrative nature. These processes are highly standardized and repeatable, produce a consistent output...

Help Desks/Support Desks are the central area for end user support. Being able to meet and exceed customer expectations requires ongoing evaluation of the Help Desk/Service Desk. Add the Wireless Telecom help desk or service desk to this complexity and the task can seem overwhelming. So how should you be assessing your Help Desk/Service Desk and should you outsource? What is a Help Desk or Service Desk? According to the Wikipedia, Help Desk is an information and assistance resource that troubleshoots problems with computers or similar products. Corporations often provide help desk support to their customers via a toll-free number, website and/or e-mail. A Service Desk is defined as a primary IT...

I often hear people use the term "ITIL Lite." But what exactly does it mean? The phrase is often used within the context of trying to gain the benefits of ITIL without making the necessary difficult choices and sacrifices; thus, deviating from the core principles of IT Service Management. In this sense, ITIL-Lite is the shortcut taken whenever the organization is not able (or at least does not believe it is able) to get the requisite level of buy-in to fully implement the best practice concepts as defined in the Library. In most situations, the following scenario exists: someone (usually a mid level manager) within the organization that has achieved some level of ITIL certification (usually...

Implementing IT Service Management is like going on a journey. Before you embark on your journey, you will need to define your end point or desired state. This means defining the vision and mission, goals and objectives for the project. The ITIL books, ISO20000 standards and other frameworks are like your map and compass. However, to plan your journey, you need to know your starting point. Hence the need for an ITSM assessment. The determination of "where we are now" through an ITSM assessment creates a known starting point for the planning and implementation team. The results will often point out gaps and key issues and top priority areas which need to be addressed first and foremost to improve IT...

Choosing an IT Service Management tool can turn out to be a major challenge that an organization may face. An IT Service Management tool is generally in the form of software. But, this software may not contain all the features that you are looking for. For instance, your organization may be facing a number of problems, but your software is capable of handling only a few of them. In such circumstances, the tool becomes ineffective. Further, an organization may undergo changes with the changing and evolving technology. Due to this, the tool may go obsolete. To counter this problem, the software vendor must offer a constant upgrading facility. Different IT companies use different platforms to host the...

Implementing a service management software tool, getting the facts over time primarily will give you an excellent ITIL service desk implementation. Tracking and resolving incidents is one of the major goals of a service desk software solution. However, what you measure, the way you measure, the reports you create and how you interpret the results can bring you help desk best practice. The first priority is to map out your business processes from an incident being reported - where it goes to, who it goes to, what do they do and then the various paths that are taken depending on the incident and what happens after that. The companies with best practices have a lot of up to date documentation available...

ITIL - IT Infrastructure Library is an integrated set of best practices that are used to aid the implementation of a framework for IT Service Management. Last year we saw a need to re-tailor our course to meet the rise of ITIL adoption worldwide. One of our clients, a multinational outsourcing firm with a IT staff strength of 3,000 people in three disperse locations US, India and China, faced the challenge to bring their IT personnel staff up to speed withthe newly implemented ITIL framework. The company has an objective to meet: get their IT staff trained and certified on the new ITIL new processes and tools within 3 months. The most logical learning strategy is to use e-learning to achieve the...

All Parts of a Team are Important WC: Having the best defense will not ensure victory. Dominating the midfield means nothing if you can't score. Ten can be brilliant, but if the goalkeeper makes rookie-type mistakes, you will not win. IT: You can have the very best applications, but if your service desk is weak, your entire IT operation will be perceived as sub-par. You may have invested considerably to ensure that all user interfaces are intuitive, but if response times are bad, the end user experience will be judged as poor. Achieving a balanced effort across all IT elements is a challenge, but is crucial to success. Using the latest technology to reduce costs and increase productivity - for...

More IT Services, Less Budget For the last few years, the economy has been tumultuous. Faced with economic downturn, slowed consumer spending, and falling share prices, businesses are rightfully counting every penny. Executives are now tasked with justifying each and every IT investment to validate equal or greater return. This has resulted in the reallocation of resources to projects and initiatives that produce the quickest return, are tied directly to immediate revenue generation or enable cost reduction In order to stay ahead of the competition, enterprises must provide the highest level of customer service, while focusing IT resources on strategic business initiatives. Meanwhile, IT...

Before we proceed on the grounds how service desk software can greatly produce better productivity in your customer support, we must first define what service desk software is and what it is for. Service desk software is the product behind many companies' provision of technical support services to their customers; it is accessed by staff fielding support calls or emails and taps into the company's problem resolution knowledge-base. Typical functionality includes call management, call tracking, knowledge management, problem resolution, remote control, and self-help capabilities. It also logs and tracks users' requests for help. A full package of service desk software available in the market usually...

Service desk software is one of the top catch phrases in the current IT business environment. The question is: with so many tools and providers available, would you truly require a service desk software after which how can you select the right one? You might select a service management tool based on cost, or on the recommendations of a peer or associate, or from the provider's brand. Simply because IT has to adjust to support the changing needs of the company, we believe you should choose a service management tool based on what best meets your current needs at a cost you can afford, and it has the features to support your future needs at no additional cost. Very first, you need to think about - what...

It is a major issue for many businesses that the role of their IT department is not clearly defined in terms of how they add value and justify their costs. As technology continues to evolve, IT is becoming a bigger and bigger component of business, with almost all businesses using it to some degree. It therefore needs careful management to ensure that it acts in a way that gives an organisation a competitive advantage as opposed to becoming a financial burden on the business. The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of concepts and policies that promotes a well-functioning and collaborative IT environment. It was initially launched in 1989 by the government's Central...

Join the one of the fastest growing communities of IT professionals around the globe by obtaining your ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management. ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) is a consistent and comprehensive documentation of best practice for IT Service Management, developed by OGC. It is a series of documents that are used to aid the implementation of a lifecycle framework for IT Service Management. It outlines an extensive set of management procedures intended to support businesses in achieving both high financial quality and value in IT operations. ITIL is now a worldwide phenomenon used by organizations of all shapes and sizes, so a growing army of ITIL certified professionals is...

Auto-discovery tools refer to a set of tools that collects data on a network and records any changes made to the assets. For example, Hewlett Packard's Network Node Manager is able to discover all equipment connected to a TCP/IP network using the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). Desktop management tools may be able to collect information about Windows-based devices using interfaces like Microsoft's Windows Management Interface (WMI). In any case, the auto-discovery function is just one of the many functions of these tools. You will not probably buy such tools just for this function only but if you have tools with such capabilities, why not use them to support Configuration Management? The...

There are many types of IT Service Management (ITSM) assessments that can be conducted. They could range from quick and inexpensive self-assessments to complex, detailed and expensive investigations led by ITSM consultants or experts. They can also be also classified as a compliance-based assessment or a maturity-based assessment or combination of both. Compliance-based assessments are aimed at evaluating whether an organization meets some type of external or internal criteria. Examples of external criteria are ISO 20000 standard or some proprietary ITSM frameworks like HP ITSM Reference Model or Microsoft's MOF. Internal criteria could be the organisation's policies or documented procedural...

I've always been perplexed by the various process improvement frameworks floating around the business world. There's Six Sigma, Lean, balanced scorecard, COBIT, ITIL. And that's only a few of them. There is a mind-boggling list. When a new framework is introduced, my first question is always, "Do we really need another?" So it was in February when I interviewed Sheila Upton, director of Technology and Security Risk Services for Ernst & Young and a member of the Innovation Value Institute, when the IVI introduced the IT Capability Maturity Framework (IT-CMF), a five-stage maturity model used to organize and structure a framework for mapping IT improvement efforts. I followed up a few weeks later...

The IT Infrastructure Library (or ITIL) is essentially a body of knowledge, structures and ‘best practices’ related to the provision of quality IT services. It is an invaluable resource for IT service professionals who need to widen the scope of their understanding of IT Service Management. It has also been widely-introduced within organisations as a ready-made working model, in order to achieve a standardised service management method. For Individuals One major advantage of ITIL for individuals working within and alongside IT Service Management is that the collated information is teachable, and further that it is regularly taught and examined as part of ordinary progress towards a career in IT...

ITIL stands for Information Technology Infrastructure Library. It may sound a little technical to you. It is actually a tutorial of the best IT practices across various reputed companies. These practices have been most beneficial to all of them. There were many such companies using a yellow book for recording the most beneficial IT uses. And now it is considered that the concept of this ITIL has come from these yellow books by many leading companies like IBM, Infosys etc. Now the question arrives why will a small concern use these tutorials? There are numerous advantages. The best practices and the guidelines that are taught in the library could help your business to earn tremendous amount of...

A help desk is a source of hardware and/or software technical support which is staffed by people who can either directly solve problems or direct the problem to the appropriate department. Help desks are usually characterized by a single point of entry and often use sophisticated ticketing and record-keeping management tools. Many companies find it difficult to invest in call routing and incident tracking database technologies. In addition, trained help desk staff is often difficult to find and can put a strain on company payroll, benefit expenditures and operating costs. For these reasons, many companies choose to outsource their IT help desk needs. There are several advantages to outsourcing your...

The dictionary defines a system as an "...orderly process or set of related things". As applied to business management, an effective management control system is a perpetual management tool that links facts together in an orderly fashion, so a manager can make timely decisions. A manager must control numerous variables on a daily basis, including: - High-level company goals such as productivity and customer service levels - The relationship of one department to another - The timely resolution of customer concerns - Addressing variances to expected performance targets Companies often undertake process improvement initiatives to achieve these goals. When committing resources to business process...

Whether the economy is booming or facing a crunch, one factor plays a critical role in business: IT. In today's business environment, almost all business activities are tied with the IT department. However, most of the departmental heads have no idea of the impact of complex technology on their respective business processes. Many a times, department heads have no means of identifying and preventing bottlenecks within applications so that end users are not affected. In today's tough economy, Business Service Management can come to the rescue of many IT managers as well as departmental heads to ensure a smooth running of business processes. The importance of knowing end to end performance is not only...

Error Proofing is a process improvement that aims to prevent a specific defect from occurring in a production line. Effective error proofing involves detection of the error by the operator, feedback to stop the process, so that the error can be put right and problem solving by the improvement team to take corrective and preventative action. Error proofing reduces the risk of:o Operator injuryo Faulty productso Machine damage ando Defective product being produced or passed to the next process The change agent's challenge is to change the culture within an organization so that the new mantra becomes: Don't accept a defect Don't make a defect and Don't pass a defect on (to the customer) Lean Six Sigma...

Change Management is a frequently heard phrase in corporations and organizations that would like to bring about a significant improvement in operations as well as business processes. Effective implementation of change management can help companies especially during a bad time. Effective strategies have helped troubled business on long-term recovery. These companies which went to change management have also become winners. Change management may include both business strategies as well as cultural change. Change management comprises many aspects such as defining and instilling new values, attitudes, norms, behavior pattern within the organization. The organizations should initiate change management...

Business Service Management is an approach for managing information technology that also covers technology investments of the business to track, monitor, manage and view the investment side of technology as well as the operational side of technology from the perspective of the business. It helps to increase the business value for better management performance of information technology and business processes. Business Service Management solutions help to bring the business perspective and context to the IT environment to understand how their IT infrastructure and technology investments support the business. From an administrative point of view, it really comes down to minimizing or even making...

p>Software configuration management is intended to control the configuration of a software product or system throughout the life cycle of the product and that includes the project that builds it. Software development organizations that have been certified as CMM or CMMI Level 2 or above will have a robust Software Configuration Management process in place; all you need to do is to determine the activities, tasks, milestones, and deliverables your project must plan to be compliant. Project managers who don't have the advantage of an established Software Configuration Management process will have to implement one as part of their project. The advantage of doing so is twofold: you maintain control of...

Define and publish available services; Standardized the service fulfillment processes. Establish achievable service levels; Determine the associated costs; Manage performance; Make a difference. Customer Alignment & Demand Management The focus of the IT infrastructure catalogue is the customer service expectation. This clear definition of 'service' provides the basis for a balanced negotiation with regards to the trade-offs of cost and the breadth and quality of services. The result of these efforts is an ongoing communication between the business units and IT that enables IT to deliver instant value, ensuring quicker time to market, measurable SLA compliance and ultimately improved customer...

You may have just taken and passed your ITIL Foundation V3 assessment and wondering which V3 Intermediate route do I consider to help develop into an ITIL expert? This is a frequent question posed by trainees who have taken and passed their foundation paper. Throughout this short article we are going to examine the 3 principal routes you can take towards becoming an ITIL Expert. Note that from Ist of July 2010, trainees can only take the V3 Foundation exam because the final V2 Foundation Certificate closes 30 July 2010. The following paragraphs should highlight the Intermediate Certification options you can pursue after you've obtained the Foundation certificate in the ITIL framework. Becoming ITIL...

ITIL - Information Technology Infrastructure Library - is the name of a collection of 'best practices' that originated in the government of the United Kingdom. It's a very technical-sounding, but the truth is that the ITIL is simply a massive collection of procedures that any business with an IT department - even if it's just one guy in a closet office - can use to make sure that everything the IT guy does is as efficient as possible. Why would a small business go to all of the trouble? There are a few good reasons. The amount of money your business can save by training your IT department on these best practices is startling - that alone is worth the investment. Also, the ITIL covers a huge variety...

The EXIN or ISEB ITIL Foundation examination comprises of 40 multiple choices questions where an answer out of 4 possible answers given has to be selected. One mark is given for a correct answer and no marks are deducted for an incorrect answer. Time allocated is 1 hour and a score of at least 26 marks out of 40 is needed to pass. Many may dread the idea of having to sit for an examination and perform below par even though they may be sufficiently prepared for the examination through self study or have attended a formal training course. These are the tips that I typically share with the participants of the ITIL Foundation course before they sit for the ITIL Foundation certification examinations...

PRINCE2 and ITIL are both standardised management methodologies, formulated by the UK government and subsequently adopted by public and private sector organisations throughout the UK, Europe and increasingly in the USA, Asia, South Africa and the Middle East. Both methodologies are described in standard textbooks and are available as accredited courses, with examinations and certificates administered by the APMG. PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments v. 2) provides a generic project management framework based on best practices (or 'Components') devised by teams of professional and experienced project managers and subject to constant revision (there is currently a movement towards replacing...

Despite all the marketing hype from computer vendors, the true and lasting competitive advantage from IT does not result from implementing the latest gee whiz technology or a "better mousetrap" - instead, it is achieved by a disciplined commitment to Operational Excellence in IT management. By applying a strict management discipline and following proven best practices, the IT function can be transformed from a difficult-to-manage cost center into a value-added service to the corporation. This approach has been proven to be a winning strategy throughout the highs and lows of business cycles and is an even more important discipline for companies weathering the storms of a severe recession. After many...

This article will help you to understand some similarities and differences between two frameworks: COSO and COBIT. Some basic knowledge about these two networks is required especially for E-Commerce. COSO and COBIT are comparable frameworks, COSO's approach is more broad-based, fewer complexes, without so much technical issues and COBIT is more comprehensive, process-orientated, risk, control needs, and it relates more to technical issues. COBIT covers quality and security requirements such as effectiveness, efficiency, integrity, availability, compliance, confidentiality and reliability of information. These are the foundations for the control objectives of COBIT. As recognized by the COSO agenda...

Six Sigma Process improvement allows businesses to focus on the most important part of their business: the bottom line. At the end of the day, nothing matters more than a business's profitability, because that is the ultimate measure of success. Using Six Sigma Projects to improve processes will allow you to make the most of your business every single time. By taking the time to check out every process that you have and ensure that they are all operating at their best, you can ensure that your profits will be where they should be. It seems like a fairly simple concept to most people, but there are still a lot of people out there who think that Six Sigma Projects aren't effective and that it's just a...

Insofar as I can discern from the gushing press coverage about ITIL v3, ITIL will save your organization, allow CIO's everywhere to retire early, and bring about world peace in our time. Delving deeper into ITIL, one half expects heavenly light to radiate upon their head, and hear a choir of angels as all questions about the meaning of life and the universe are answered in an explosive epiphany. On the surface, the promise of ITIL seems fair enough. Rather than reinventing the wheel in designing and managing an IT organization, ITIL promises a compendium of ready-made "best practices" that can be applied to any organization, cutting costs and increasing efficiency. Like most methodologies du jour...

A business which is big in size and which involves numerous managers and staff members to look after the production and services of a company is known as a corporation. These types of companies appoint a whole range of directors, also known as a board of directors, and assign them a whole lot of tasks. This board of directors in turn assigns tasks to lower level employees working under them, for the smooth running of the company. The corporate houses are broken down into several divisions, and have various styles of management, depending upon which decisions are made. The corporate sector has become even more fast paced, and due to that, companies are taking the route of corporate change management...

> Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance for Project-based Companies Addressed by VISIBILITY.net The listing below provides a further review of VISIBILITY.net ERP pertinent capabilities as they may be applied to Sarbanes-Oxley: - Controlled System Access - Data access user - Assigned security - Controlled administration - Administrative responsibility - Workflow Traceability Notifications Audit Trail Additional Auditability Software Change Management and Control Software such as the VISIBILITY.net ERP system, as a business tool, provides substantial controls used to address compliance requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley. These built-in capabilities provide specific automation that when applied with procedural...

The changes are important for the success and survival of a business venture. Whereas the changes on large scale can be threatening as it may jeopardise the purpose of the business venture. Some big changes like Mergers, company reorganisation etc need to be handled with patience and professional approach. During such time seeking the help of the management consulting agency specialising in change management will be a very wise idea. The bigger changes can be handled well if you seek change management help from management consulting agencies because things may sometimes take very unpredictable turns. At first it may seem that things are going on the right path and then slowly it may begin to fall...

Change management is an essential principle of Six Sigma Training. You cannot teach people about the most effective ways to run a business or help them with process improvement until they believe in and support the changes that are being made. Too often, this is easier said than done, but it can become a simple task if you utilize the skills that you have. For example, if you take the time to talk to the upper management about what processes need improved, and then use the statistical analysis information in order to help them to understand how critical those changes are to the business's success, you'll generally get a better response than if you just tell them that they'll have to deal with it...

Change Management for the 21st century must adapt to meet the needs of a challenging economy and a workforce that is very insecure. Most businesses and organizations have been faced with the challenges of cut-backs, lay-offs, and down-sizing, which has led to a general insecurity and fear among most people still employed of any hint of change within an organization. The challenge then for leaders is to create a positive environment for change management using different techniques and methods than have been used previously. In the current climate of employee uncertainty the success of sustaining change within an organization is dependent on the passion and engagement of all employees within the...

Recently, an increasing number of visitors to my website have been searching for KPIs relating to organization change management. This has prompted me to reflect on the idea and offer my thoughts. I believe they are asking the wrong question. As a long time HR professional, in addition to my business strategy interests I have been involved in many organizational change projects. Whether the project has been described as "organization change", "restructuring", "reorganization", or "retraining", there has been an underlying theme; it has always been driven by a change in strategy. Either the business needs to do something different, or it needs to do the same thing in a different way. I suggest that...

Change management programs allow companies to evaluate and limit the use of updates and changes encountered with software, operating systems or application platforms on company computer and networking systems. Changes must be approved in-house before they can be implemented. Determining whether a change can be made or not before it is automatically implemented prevents adjustments and upgrades from disabling other computer capabilities or components. Using a management program to handle an automated a request for change (RFC) prevents the IT department or management team from having to handle the issues on a person-by-person or case-by-case basis. This mainstreams the process, making the it more...