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ITIL Basics

IT Service Management and ITIL Basics

About ITIL:

ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is a continually evolving set of standard operational management procedures as they apply to an IT organization.

The current release is v3, which is the structure the Office of the CIO is implementing. A Carmen training course is available under the Training tab.

ITIL v3 Lifecycle Phases

Be sure to refer to the ITIL Basics guide for a brief
description of the phases and basic terminology definitions.

Process and Function Definitions:

  • 7-Step Improvement Process
    Consists of defining what should be measured; what can be measured; gathering the data; processing the data; analyzing the data; presenting and using the information; and implementing corrective actions with the identification of vision and operational goals as input.

  • Access Management
    Grants authorized individuals the right to use a service; prevents access by unauthorized individuals; ensures policies and actions defined in Security and Availability Management are performed focusing on Access, Identity, and Rights Management.

  • Applications Management
    One of a number of Service Operations functions.

  • Availability Management
    Includes reactive and proactive actions to ensure the level of service availability delivered is matched to or surpasses the agreed-upon needs of the organization in a cost-effective manner.

  • Capacity Management
    Ensures service performance achievements meet or exceed all their agreed-upon targets in a capacity plan with a focus on Business Capacity Management, Service Capacity Management, and Component Capacity Management.

  • Change Management
    Responsible for controlling the lifecycle of all changes. The primary objective of change management is to enable beneficial changes to be made, with minimum disruption to IT services.

  • Demand Management
    Includes activities designed to understand and influence customer demand for services and provision of capacity to meet the demand.

  • Event Management
    Provides the ability to detect and make sense of events and to determine if the appropriate control action has been implemented.

  • Financial Management
    Addresses the prudent provision of IT Services and includes Budgeting (predicting and controlling costs); Accounting (identifying the actual costs of delivering IT Services, comparing costs and budgeted costs, and managing variances); Charging (identifying the payment structure for IT Services when chargeable).

  • Incident Management
    Restores normal service operations as quickly as possible to minimize adverse impact and restore provision of service.

  • Information Security Management
    A set of assumptions relating to information security including Confidentiality (information is observed by or disclosed to those with a right to know; Integrity (information is complete, accurate, and protected against unauthorized changes; Availability (information is accessible when required); and Authenticity (transactions and information exchanges can be trusted).

  • IT Operations Management
    One of a number of Service Operation functions.

  • IT Services Continuity Management
    Addresses a set of IT service continuity and recovery plans that support the overall Business Continuity Plans (BCPs) of the organization. It is the process of planning and coordinating the technical, financial and management resources needed to ensure continuity of service after a disaster (as agreed with the client).

  • Problem Management
    Responsible for managing the lifecycle of all problems. The primary objectives of problem management are to prevent incidents from happening and to minimize the impact of incidents that cannot be prevented.

  • Release and Deployment Management
    Ensures a release package can be created, installed, tested, and deployed to a target group or environment successfully and on schedule with minimal unpredicted impact on other areas of the organization.

  • Request Fulfillment
    Encompasses service requests from users as well as assistance with general information, complaints, or comments.

  • Service Asset and Configuration Management (SACM)
    Defines and controls the components of services and infrastructure; maintains accurate configuration information on the historical, planned, and current states of services and infrastructure.

  • Service Catalog Management (SCM)
    Manages the information in the service catalog and ensures it is accurate; reflects the current details, status, interfaces, and dependencies of all services being run or being prepared to run in the live environment.

  • Service Desk
    One of a number of Service Operations functions.

  • Service Level Management (SLM)
    Responsible for negotiating Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and ensuring that these are met. Service Level Management also is responsible for ensuring that all IT service management processes, Operational Level Agreements (OLAs), and underpinning contracts, are appropriate for the agreed service level targets. SLM monitors and reports on service levels, and holds regular customer reviews.

  • Service Operations Functions
    A stage in the lifecycle of an IT Service; includes Service Desk, Technical Management, and IT Operations Management;

  • Service Portfolio Management (SPM)
    Describes a provider’s services in terms of business value; includes the activities to design, analyze, approve, and charter a service.

  • Service Reporting
    Encompasses the process of producing and delivering reports of achievement and trends related to service levels.

  • Service Strategy
    Represents an approach for creating service strategies; steps include defining the market, developing the offerings and strategic assets; and preparing for execution.

  • Supplier Management
    Ensures value for money is obtained from suppliers and contracts; ensures underpinning contracts with suppliers are aligned with business needs in conjunction with Service Level Management; and manages relationships with suppliers.

  • Technical Management
    One of a number of Service Operations functions.