Project Management with EPLC and ITIL

John Castilia & John JankeService Management Office

CIT

Presentation Goals• Provide a suggested approach for

managing projects in alignment with EPLC and ITIL

• Offer a brief Refresher on EPLC and ITIL• Resolve confusion about the role of EPLC

and ITIL in project management• Examine why that confusion exists

The Project Management Challenge

• Meet requirements and targets for: • Quality• Time • Budget• Scope

• Manage project scope• Handle the numerous approaches which

exist to aid in successful project completion

In the Imperfect World of Project Management

• Frameworks such as PMBOK, PRINCE2, EPLC, CPIC, and CMMI promote success– Based on industry good practice

– Typically customized to meet specific constraints

– May introduce additional work

– Can increase time and cost, but not necessarily perceived value to the customer, project managers, and organizational management

Benefits of Frameworks• Improve consistency of performance• Increase competitive advantage• Raise effectiveness and efficiency• Enhance organizational capabilities• Lower costs and risks• Improve collaboration across projects

The Balancing Act• Incorporate the benefits of frameworks to:

– improve project excellence– enhance organizational project management– comply with regulations, mandates, etc.

• While simultaneously protecting against:– expensive, procedural “overhead”– non-applicable framework elements– overly rigid adherence to standards– erosion of value perceived by the customer

Confusion about EPLC and ITIL

• EPLC and ITIL seem to:• compete with one another• have the same purpose• create similar deliverables• add little value• complicate “getting it done”

Clearing the Confusion1. Learn enough about EPLC and ITIL in

order to benefit:• the project management effort • the customer• the organization

2. Introduce a suggested EPLC/ITIL approach that complies with the rules and adds value during the life cycle

Purpose of EPLC“A key to successful IT management is a solid project management methodology that incorporates best government and commercial practices through a consistent and repeatable process, and provides a standard structure for planning, managing and overseeing IT projects over their entire life cycle. The HHS Enterprise Performance Life Cycle (EPLC) framework provides that methodology for HHS.”Office of the CIO, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Resources and Technology, Health and Human Services, Enterprise Performance Life Cycle Framework Overview Document, (Washington, DC: January 18, 2010), 3.

Enterprise Performance Life Cycle

Purpose of ITIL

“ITIL is used by organizations worldwide to establish and improve capabilities in service management.”Office of Government Commerce (UK), ITIL: Service Strategy, (Norwich, UK: The Stationery Office, 2007), 7.

“Service Management is a set of organizational capabilities for providing value to customers in the form of services.”Office of Government Commerce (UK), ITIL: Service Strategy, (Norwich, UK: The Stationery Office, 2007), 250.

What’s Common: EPLC and ITIL

Lifecycle-basedParallel (but not identical) termsMatching activitiesComparable goalsProcess DrivenAllow tailoringNon-prescriptive

EPLC and ITIL DifferencesEPLC

• Is mandated• Stage Gates are

governance check-ins• Is designed specifically

for HHS OPDIVs• Focus on project

control and accountability

• Project-based

ITIL• Often an organizational

requirement• “Mesh” Approach – No

Stage Gates• Is designed from research

done in many industries around the world

• Focus on value created and delivered to customer

• Service-based

The Most Significant Distinctions

• Mandated vs. Non-Mandated• Assume EPLC must be done • Allow for Project Management and Service

Management differences• Comprehending Projects vs. Services is the

fulcrum with which to leverage framework benefits

• Necessary Definitions: IT System, IT Service, IT Project

What is an IT System?• An integrated composite of one or more of the processes,

hardware, software, facilities, formal documentation, people, and configuration items that provides capability to satisfy a stated need or objective.

• A collection of configuration items (hardware, software, and documentation) that are necessary to deliver an IT Service.

What is an IT Service?• Service

– Delivers Value– Facilitates Outcomes

• Enhances Performance• Reduces Constraints

– Owns costs and risks– Increases the probability of desired outcomes

What is an IT Project?“A project is a temporary planned endeavor funded by an approved information technology investment; thus achieving a specific goal and creating a unique product, service, or result. A project has a defined start and end point with specific objectives that, when attained, signify completion.”Office of the CIO, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Resources and Technology, Health and Human Services, Enterprise Performance Life Cycle Framework Overview Document, (Washington, DC: January 18, 2010), 10.

Hierarchy of Definitions

Project and Service Management

Projects• Projects should be used

to build services and systems

• Projects have defined deliverables

• Projects end or have signifiers of completion

• Transfer of “ownership” from development organization to customer organization

Services• Service management does

not typically develop solutions

• Service Management run operations

• Services are rarely built to be handed off to another party

• Services are ongoing

• Assume costs and risks on behalf of customer

Management Domains

Business Value

Business Service

IT Service

IT System(s)

IT Component(s)

Research

Laboratory Management

Facilities Access

FACNet

Access Card Reader

Business Managers

IT Leadership/ Service OwnersProject Managers

Technical Managers

ITSM (ITIL)

Project Management (EPLC)

Business Management

EPLC and ITIL blur when development and operations overlap

RolesActivity

● Services assume the ownership their systems ● *Systems and other solutions developed in support of services should,

therefore, be built with the EPLC● Both the EPLC and ITIL should be tailored to satisfy requirements

Suggested Decision Table: Project or Service

Example Transfer of Ownership

Transfer of Managemen

t

Signifier of Completion

Type

Web Site Y Y Y ProjectEmail Server Y Y N Service*NBS Y N N Service*Service Catalog

N N N Service*

Laptop Battery Swap

N N Y Project

SharePoint Site

N Y Y Project

Example 1: A Database

This cannot be a service, should follow the EPLC, and be tailored to meet requirements

Deciding FactorsWill the major deliverables be operated by the customer?

Yes

Does the customer assume the costs and risks? Yes

Does the customer own the final product? Yes

Is there an established end date or other signifier of completion?

Yes

Example 2: Remote Access System

• This is system that will support a service and better run with the ITIL framework, but the system itself should be built with the EPLC

Deciding FactorsWill the major deliverables be owned and operated by the customer?

No

Does the customer assume the costs and risks? No

Does the customer own the final product? No

Is there an established end date or other signifier of completion?

No

Deliverables and OutputsQuestion: Doesn’t that mean two sets of

deliverables? One for ITIL and one for EPLC?

Answer: No! EPLC has deliverables and these can be used to satisfy ITIL outputs.

• There are no mandated or required ITIL outputs.• ITIL strongly suggests that there are outputs.• EPLC is more structured as deliverables are

required for Stage Gate reviews.

The Confusion Allayed?• Service Management uses Project Management

to build its systems (. . . EPLC enhances ITIL)• Project Management uses Service Management

to run what it builds (. . . ITIL enhances EPLC)• Guidance from one can help accomplish the

other, i.e.,– Use ITIL guidance for EPLC release documentation– Could use EPLC documents as part of ITIL process.

Final Thoughts• EPLC strengthens project management rigor and

accountability through a mandated process.

• ITIL provides a service management framework. The ITIL processes within that framework exist for the primary purpose of planning, delivering and supporting IT services.

• Together EPLC & ITIL enhance our organizational capability to deliver value to our customers.

Service Management Office ContactsJohn “Jack” Castilia, PMP

Project Manager

John Janke, ITIL Service ManagerProcess Engineer

Questions ?