theartofservice

This book centers on the ability of an IT organization to deliver and support IT services on a day to day basis, it covers practical guidance on the design and implementation of integrated end-to-end processes based on proven industry best practice guidelines:

• Identify key business and management issues in IT Service Management
• Manage the planning and implementation of IT Service Management
• Implement Strategic Change Management and Risk Management
• Handle organizational challenges and assess services
• Prepare for the ITIL Intermediate Qualification: Managing Across the Lifecycle Certification Exam

The ITIL v3 Intermediate Qualification: Managing Across the Lifecycle focuses on the ancillary knowledge required to implement and manage the necessary skills in IT Service Management. This book covers the contents for the final module of the ITIL V3 Intermediate stream and leads to the ITIL Expert Qualification in IT Service Management.

This book is valuable for those who want to achieve the ITIL Intermediate Qualification: Managing Across the Lifecycle Certificate. Required credits from ITIL v2 or v3 qualifications are needed to take the Managing Across the Lifecyle Certification Exam.

Contents:

It Service Management

* The Four Perspectives (attributes) Of Itsm

* Benefits Of Itsm

* Business And It Alignment

What Is Itil®?

* The Service Lifecycle

* Mapping The Concepts Of Itil® To The Service Lifecycle

* How Does The Service Lifecycle Work?

* Specialization & Coordination Across The Service Lifecycle

Common Terminology

* What Are Services?

* Processes & Functions

Principles Of Service Management

* Business Units And Service Units

* Types Of Service Providers

* Agents

* Encapsulation

* Monitoring And Control Of It Service Management

Service Strategy

* Objectives Of Service Strategy

* Benefits Of Service Strategy

* Service Strategy Interfaces With Other Service Lifecycle Phases

* Major Concepts Of Service Strategy

* Service Portfolio Management

* Financial Management

* Demand Management

* Challenges, Critical Success Factors And Risks Of Service Management

Service Design

* Objectives Of Service Design

* Benefits Of Service Design

* Five Major Aspects Of Service Design

* Service Design Interfaces With Other Service Lifecycle Phases

* Service Level Management

* Service Catalogue Management

* Supplier Management

* Availability Management

* Capacity Management

* It Service Continuity Management

* Information Security Management

Service Transition

* Objectives Of Service Transition

* Benefits Of Service Transition

* Interfaces To Other Service Lifecycle Phases

* Transition Planning And Support

* Change Management

* Release And Deployment Management

* Service Validation And Testing

* Service Evaluation

* Service Asset And Configuration Management

* Knowledge Management

Service Operation

* Objectives Of Service Operation

* Benefits Of Service Operation

* Interfaces To Other Service Lifecycle Phases

* Principles Of Service Operation

* Event Management

* Incident Management

* Problem Management

* Request Fulfillment

* Access Management

Itil Functions

* The Service Desk

* Technical Management

* It Operations Management

* Application Management

Continual Service Improvement

* The Continual Service Improvement Model

* Managing Cultural Change

* The Deming Cycle

* Swot Analysis

* Implementing Continual Service Improvement (csi) Processes

* Service Measurement And Reporting

Roles And Responsibilities

* Generic Roles

* Roles Within Service Transition

Technology Considerations

* Selecting Itsm Tools And Supporting Technology

* Knowledge Management Tools

Review Questions

Glossary

Certification

* Itil® Certification Pathways

* Iso/iec 20000 Pathways

Answers To Review Questions

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In many organizations, the role of Incident Manager is crucial to the effective performance of IT operations. Ultimately responsible for the execution of the incident management process, the Incident Manager ensures that the process and systems supporting the process are working appropriately with the entire process framework to minimize the impact of service disruptions to the business.

Here are some specific responsibilities of the Incident Manager:

• Driving effectiveness and efficiency of the processing
• Producing reports
• Making recommendations for improvements
• Managing major reports
• Development and maintaining processes and tools for incident management

If the Incident Manager role does not exist in your IT organization, find some way to introduce it. For most of the organization, managing incidents means getting through a service disruption as quickly as possible. Though this is a valid perspective, it’s not possible if the crucial components of the IT infrastructure do not exist. The Incident Manager ensures those components are in place before the service disruption occurs.

If an Incident Manager does exist, are they highly visible in the organization. If your team is responsible for handling service disruptions, invite the Incident Manage to team meetings on a regular basis. This will open the lines of communication for everyone to understand what’s going on with incident management.

Encourage the role of Incident Manager. Their success opens the doors to everyone’s success.

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Who Knew ITIL Certification E-Learning This Quick and Easy Could Make You Look This Good.

“The Art of Service has dramatically changed the way we deliver employee training. We can now deliver more training at less cost to a wider audience in a shorter period of time.”

On-demand eLearning: Don’t pay over $ 3,000.00 for a 5 day class room based course - you’re out of touch with your work for 5 days and including the course fee: the costs are insurmountable - take the online learning option instead and study at your own pace.

Course Description:

This intensive interactive course immerses students in the practical aspects of the ITIL v3 Service Lifecycle and processes associated with Planning, Protection and Optimization which ensures IT departments can cost-effectively manage customer demand, availability and capacity while mitigating risk.

In this course, you learn how to plan, implement and optimize the Planning, Protection and Optimization processes and gain the skills required to take the ITIL Planning, Protection and Optimization Certification Exam.

The main focus of this course is on the PPO process activities and supporting methods and approaches to executing these processes in a practical, hands-on learning environment.

This course is designed using an engaging, interactive and flexible online approach to learning the core disciplines of the ITIL best practice and positions the student to successfully complete the associated exam: the APMG/EXIN Intermediate Level CertificatePlanning, Protection and Optimization.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this course, the learner will gain competencies in:

• Plan key activities for the Planning, Protection and Optimization processes in the context of the Service Lifecycle
• Attain operational excellence by using the Planning, Protection and Optimization processes, activities and functions
• Measure the success of Planning, Protection and Optimization by applying key metrics
• Utilize capacity and availability management to realize successful Service Design
• Ensure that services are fit-for-purpose and fit-for-use
• Identify and mitigating risks
• Apply Continual Service Improvement

As well as preparing participants for the exam.

Audience: The PPO course will be of interest to:

• Individuals who have their ITIL v3 Foundation Certificate (or the ITIL v2 Foundation + v3 Foundation Bridge certificate) who want to purse the intermediate and advanced level ITIL certifications.
• IT professionals involved in IT Service Management implementation and improvement programs. A typical role includes (but is not restricted to): IT professionals, IT / business managers and IT / business process owners, IT practitioners.

Benefits:

By developing participants’ knowledge regarding the ITIL framework it will enable:

• The establishment of a common language between the business and IT.
• Readiness for Release, Control and Validation implementation and maintenance
• Consistency in support of IT Services.
• Staff better understand their role within the entire Service Lifecycle

Pre-requisites:

ITIL v3 Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management or ITIL v2 Foundation Certificate plus Bridge Certificate.

Delivery:

The program combines short presentations supported by accredited trainer audio.  There are also quizzes and exercises (marking scheme provided) to ensure learners are testing their knowledge and competency  to enhance understanding of key concepts. Revision questions and a mock examination help to prepare for the multiple-choice APMG/EXIN examination.

This program is an eLearning Program.

Program Materials

• Access to presentation with trainer audio
• The Art of Service Release, Control and Validation Book
• Exercises + Answers (where applicable)
• Mock Exam questions

About the Examination and Certification:

• Completion of the PPO Capability course from an Accredited Training Provider (The Art of Service) is required to sit the exam.
• It is recommended that students should complete at least 12 hours of personal study by reviewing the syllabus and the PPO book in preparation for the examination.
• The exam is a closed book exam with eight (8) multiple choice, scenario-based, gradient scored questions.
• Exam duration is a maximum 90 minutes (candidates sitting the examination in a language other than their first language have a maximum of 120 minutes and are allowed to use a dictionary)
• Each question will have 4 possible answer options, one of which is worth 5 marks, one which is worth 3 marks, one which is worth 1 mark, and one which is a distracter and achieves no marks.
• Pass score is 28/40 or 70%

Course Outline

Introduction and Overview

• Planning, Protection and Optimization in the context of the Service Lifecycle
• The Service value proposition
• Role of processes in Service Management
• How Service Management creates business value

Core Planning, Protection and Optimization Processes: Capacity Management

• Conducting capacity management to contribute to quality assurance
• Purpose, goals and objectives
• Delivering against Service Level targets
• Meeting cost and time constraints
• Activities, methods and techniques
• Fit-for-purpose and fit-for-use

Availability Management

• Contributing to quality for fit-for-purpose and fit-for-use services
• Scope of the process
• Enabling Availability Management through activities, methods and techniques
• How Availability Management creates business value
• Triggers, input and output to other processes
• Establishing metrics to ensure process quality

IT Service Continuity Management (ITSC)

• Ensuring quality assurance when introducing services through effective ITSC management
• Illustrating the main activities
• Managing risks
• Planning for recovery
• Policies and principles
• Challenges and critical success factors

Information Security Management

• Analyzing how Information Security Management contributes to quality assurance for new services
• Aligning IT security with business security
• Ensuring confidentiality, integrity and availability
• How Information Security Management generates business value
• Activities, methods and techniques
• Key metrics to measure success

Demand Management

• Purpose, goals and objectives
• Influencing customer demand
• Coupling capacity with demand
• Activities, methods and techniques

Risk Management

• Risks relative to the Planning, Protection and Optimization process management
• Identifying the challenges, critical success factors and risks related to the other processes
• The risks directly related with Service Design
• How risks relate to the practice elements of Planning, Protection and Optimization

Roles and Responsibilities

• Capacity management
• Availability management
• IT Service Continuity management
• Information Security management

Technology and Implementation Considerations

• Generic requirements and evaluation criteria
• Special technology functions and features related to Planning, Protection and Optimization
• Good practices for implementation
• Determining the evaluation criteria for technology and process implementation
• Challenges, critical success factors and risks
• Considerations for planning and implementing Service Management technologies

Common Service Activities

• Analyzing operations performed in day-to-day activities
• The maturity model of technology management
• Aligning operations with the overall service and process objectives
• Service monitoring and control

Continual Service Improvement

• Implementing an effective CSI program
• CSI in respect to organizational change
• Best practice elements of CSI
• Measuring service performance
• Cost benefit justification

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Cloud computing solutions can provide easy adoption for most organizations. Quick implementation and low costs offer simple opportunities to handle business functions that can be done on the web. Unfortunately, the ease of the solution can often make it just as easy to forget about the technologies behind cloud services.

Essentially the difference between cloud computing and traditional enterprise architecture is how IT components are used. The components are the same: programming languages, databases, web services, operating systems, protocols, and APIs. Ensuring which cloud services can fit with an organization’s systems, applications, and knowledge is a crucial step in choosing the right provider.

Many cloud services are limited in their support of programming languages, database frameworks, even operating systems. Quick implementation without long term planning can restrict the future improvements to the environment. A driving force behind IT Service Management initiatives is the interoperability of several business applications to tie in workflow or shared data. This raises the possibility of multiple cloud solutions from different vendors. Use standards and similar specifications, like REST or SOAP, in all the solutions, to make integration easier.

Before stepping into the next cloud solution, focus on understanding the long-term aspects of including particular solutions into the already existing enterprise architecture. Taking this small step in planning will go a long way in ensuring that your choice is not limiting.

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The refresh of ITIL® into V3 brought impressive positive changes. The evolution of the core principles and practices provided by the framework provides the more holistic guidance needed for an industry that continues to mature and develop at a rapid pace.

Many organizations and individuals who had previously struggled with their adoption of the ITIL framework will continue to find challenges in ‘implementing’ ITIL® as part of their approach for governance of IT Service Management practices. In light of this, the primary goal of this book is to provide the support materials needed to enable the understanding and application of the ITIL® framework in a wide-range of contexts.

The “How to Develop, Implement and Enforce ITIL V3’s best practices” book is authored and published by The Art of Service. You can get this time saving guide only and exclusively from The Art of Service.

This comprehensive book is designed as an easy reference that will walk you through the 5 Lifecycle critical steps you need to take to create a successful portfolio of IT Services. In addition you will learn how to manage and refine your service portfolio as your company’s business evolves.

The one overriding benefit that the “How to Develop, Implement and Enforce ITIL V3’s best practices” book brings you is speed: save time, don’t reinvent the wheel, have instant access to the PDF and reap the benefits.

Measurable returns by using the book can be found in time savings, cost savings and increased revenues for your ITIL and It Service Management initiatives.

And personally, in your day-to-day role you will benefit from top notch ITIL best practices experience, right at your fingertips.

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The best practices of a process framework are just that: best practices. The may not be the right practices are a particular environment. Frankly, business drivers are likely to place requirements on the process that have them in a specific way not identified by the process framework. New technologies may provide opportunities that improve the process framework.

The good news is that process frameworks, like ITIL or BPM, are built to be flexible. Most requirements that occur can be easily adopted to any framework. In process work, start with the framework. Then build the rest from there. In this way, the process framework is used as a guiding principle, rather then a rigid methodology.

In some instances, blending of different frameworks may be necessary. In IT organizations that handle numerous projects, a process framework like ITIL may need to blend with a project management framework like PMBOK. Or in application development environments, it may be Agile methods. Even other process or Quality frameworks, like Six Sigma or TQM, may have some elements that are adoptable to the current implementation.

In an ever changing business environment, a flexible process framework provides an opportunity to manage that change and identify the best practices to met business requirements.

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Who Knew ITIL Certification E-Learning This Quick and Easy Could Make You Look This Good.

“The Art of Service has dramatically changed the way we deliver employee training. We can now deliver more training at less cost to a wider audience in a shorter period of time.”

Course Description:

This intensive interactive course immerses learners in the practical aspects of the ITIL® v3 Service Lifecycle and processes associated with the Operational Support and Analysis of services and service delivery.

The main focus of this course is on the operational-level process activities and supporting methods and approaches to executing these processes in a practical, hands-on learning environment.

This training is intended to enable the holders of the certificate to apply the practices in resolution and support of the Service Management Lifecycle.

This course is designed using an engaging, interactive and flexible online approach to learning the core disciplines of the ITIL best practice and positions the student to successfully complete the associated exam: the APMG/EXIN Intermediate Level Certificate Operational Support and Analysis.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this course, the learner will gain competencies in:

• Understanding Service Management as a Practice, Service Operation principles, purpose and objective
• Knowing the important role of Operational Support and Analysis in service provision and understanding of how the in-scope processes interact with other Service Lifecycle processes
• The activities, methods and functions used in each of the Operational Support and Analysis processes
• The application of Operational Support and Analysis processes, activities and functions to achieve operational excellence
• How to measure Operational Support and Analysis performance
• The importance of IT Security and how it supports Operational Support and Analysis
• Understanding technology and implementation requirements in support of Operational Support and Analysis
• The challenges, critical success factors and risks related with Operational Support and Analysis

As well as preparing participants for the exam.

Audience: The Operational Support and Analysis Capability course will be of interest to:

• Individuals who have their ITIL v3 Foundation Certificate (or the ITIL v2 Foundation + v3 Foundation Bridge certificate) who want to purse the intermediate and advanced level ITIL certifications.
• Individuals and / or operational staff who require a comprehensive practical understanding of the Operational Support and Analysis processes and how these may be used to enhance the quality of IT service support within an organization, for example: operational staff involved in Event Management Process, Incident Management Process, Request Fulfilment Process, Problem Management Process, Access Management Process, Service Desk, Technical Management, IT Operations Management and Application Management
• IT professionals involved in IT Service Management implementation and improvement programs. A typical role includes (but is not restricted to): IT professionals, IT / business managers and IT / business process owners, IT practitioners.

Benefits:

By developing participants’ knowledge regarding the ITIL framework it will enable:

• The establishment of a common language between the business and IT.
• Readiness for Operational Support and Analysis implementation and maintenance
• Consistency in support of IT Services.
• Staff better understand their role within the entire Service Lifecycle

Pre-requisites:

ITIL v3 Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management or ITIL v2 Foundation Certificate plus Bridge Certificate. It is highly recommended that you read the Operational Support and Analysis book prior to commencement of this program.


Delivery:

The program combines short presentations supported by accredited trainer audio.  There are also quizzes and exercises (marking scheme provided) to ensure learners are testing their knowledge and competency  to enhance understanding of key concepts. Revision questions and a mock examination help to prepare for the multiple-choice APMG/EXIN examination.

This program is an eLearning Program.


Program Materials

• Access to presentation with trainer audio
• The Art of Service Operational Support and Analysis Book
• Exercises + Answers (where applicable)
• Mock Exam questions

About the Examination and Certification:

• Completion of the Operational Support & Analysis Capability course from an Accredited Training Provider (The Art of Service) is required to sit the exam.
• It is recommended that students should complete at least 12 hours of personal study by reviewing the syllabus and the ITIL® v3 Service Operation book in preparation for the examination.
• The exam is a closed book exam with eight (8) multiple choice, scenario-based, gradient scored questions.
• Exam duration is a maximum 90 minutes (candidates sitting the examination in a language other than their first language have a maximum of 120 minutes and are allowed to use a dictionary)
• Each question will have 4 possible answer options, one of which is worth 5 marks, one which is worth 3 marks, one which is worth 1 mark, and one which is a distracter and achieves no marks.
• Pass score is 28/40 or 70%

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A major step in improving the effectiveness of the process is to train in the process. Seems like common sense. Unfortunately, many organizations fail to provide practical training on process and worse, does not effectively utilize the training immediately. With the implementation of a process training program, include activities which encourage the use of that training within a person’s work day.

There are three levels of practical process training:

• General process standards,
• Specific process implementations
• Skills training

ITIL, Six Sigma, BPM and a variety of other process standards provide the necessary vocabulary and concepts for a foundation understanding of the process environment. During a process implementation, the opportunities to present the framework of the process standard are numerous as the organization learns about the changes. After completing training, find opportunities to continually expose the vocabulary and concepts of the process standard to the organization. This can range from refresher courses to ensuring process discussions are a regular component of meeting agendas.

Every person does not need to be trained on every process implemented. At the very least, each individual needs to be trained in the primary processes that they are fulfilling a role in. Expanded training may provide training in processes that interface. Many training programs create process education that can be reusable. Though this keeps training costs low, practical training requires understanding the particulars of the specific implementation they will be working. Supplement the existing training program to transition the knowledge obtained to useful understanding of the process environment.

Skills training provides training to the individual to enable them to better perform their role. Encouraging the individual to apply those learned skills immediately enforces the knowledge that was obtained. Maintaining a schedule of employee’s training will allow managers the basis to plan how to use the learned skills to improve the team or process in the future.

Each of these levels have their benefits in improving the process. Success comes in using the training effectively.

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