Operational Capability

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Sun Microsystems, Inc.4150 Network CircleSanta Clara, CA 95045 U.S.A.650 960-1300

http://www.sun.com/blueprints

OperationsManagement Cap abilities Model

Edward Wustenhoff, Sun Global Datacenter Practice,Client Solutions

Michael J. Moore, Sun Global Datacenter Practice, Client Solutions

Dale H. Avery, Sun Educational Services

Sun BluePrints OnLineFebruary 2005

Part No. 819-1693-10

Revision 1.0, 1/14/05Edition: February 2005


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Contents

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Part 1Introduction...................................................................viiChapter 1Executive Summary.................................................................1Chapter 2Introduction..............................................................................3About This Document..........................................................................................................3Concept of Operational Capability ......................................................................................4Operations Management Capabilities Model ......................................................................6Other Industry Standards and Models .................................................................................8

Gartner IT Process Maturity Model ...........................................................................................8Vrije Universiteit IT Service Capability Maturity Model ..........................................................9Why A New Model? ................................................................................................................10

What This Document Contains..........................................................................................11

Part 2Sun IT Management Framework ................................ 13

Chapter 3Sun IT Management FrameworkOverview ....................15Definitions of Key Terms ..................................................................................................16Systems.....................................................................................................................................16System Development Steps......................................................................................................16Framework, Architecture, and Design .....................................................................................17

Introduction to the Sun E-Stack.........................................................................................18Business Framework..........................................................................................................20

Execution Framework........................................................................................................21Dimensions of the Execution Framework ................................................................................22Using the Execution Framework..............................................................................................23

Sun IT Management Framework .......................................................................................23Chapter 4Sun IT Management FrameworkPeople..........................27Overview of the Sun ITMF People Aspect........................................................................27

Diagram of the Sun ITMF People Aspect ................................................................................28

Practices and Practice Categories.............................................................................................29Definitions ................................................................................................................................29


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Practices of the Sun ITMF People Aspect .........................................................................31Organizing................................................................................................................................31Resourcing................................................................................................................................33Skills Development ..................................................................................................................34Workforce Management...........................................................................................................35Knowledge Management..........................................................................................................36

Chapter 5Sun IT Management Framework Process....................... 39Overview of the Sun ITMF Process Aspect ......................................................................40

Diagram of the Sun ITMF Process Aspect...............................................................................40Processes and Process Categories ............................................................................................41IT Services................................................................................................................................41

Processes of the Sun ITMF Process Aspect.......................................................................42Create IT Services ....................................................................................................................42Implement IT Services .............................................................................................................46Deliver IT Services...................................................................................................................48Improve IT Services .................................................................................................................52Control IT Services ..................................................................................................................54

Protect IT Services ...................................................................................................................58Chapter 6Sun IT Management FrameworkTools ........................... 63Overview of the Sun ITMF Tools Aspect..........................................................................64

Manual and Automated Processes............................................................................................64Tools and Tool Categories .......................................................................................................65Diagram of the Sun ITMF Tools Aspect..................................................................................66Tools Framework .....................................................................................................................66Components of the Tools Framework......................................................................................67Tools Framework Touch Points ...............................................................................................70

Tools of the Sun ITMF Tools Aspect ................................................................................71Instrumentation Types..............................................................................................................72Element and Resource Management Applications...................................................................73Event and Information Management Applications ..................................................................76Service Level Management Applications ................................................................................79

Workflow and Portal Systems..................................................................................................81

Part 3Operations Management Capabilities Model Specifica-tion.................................................................................................85Chapter 7OMCM SpecificationOverview........................................ 87OMCM Levels and Profiles...............................................................................................87

OMCM Level 1Crisis Control..............................................................................................88OMCM Level 2IT Component Management.......................................................................88


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OMCM Level 3IT Operations Management ........................................................................88OMCM Level 4IT Service Management .............................................................................89OMCM Level 5Business Value Management .....................................................................89

Structure of the OMCM.....................................................................................................89Degrees Of Implementation .....................................................................................................90Format of the OMCM Specification ........................................................................................91

Chapter 8OMCM SpecificationPeople..............................................93Organizing .........................................................................................................................94

Communication / Coordination ................................................................................................94Workgroup Development .........................................................................................................96Workforce Planning .................................................................................................................98Participatory Culture ................................................................................................................99Empowered Workgroups........................................................................................................101Competency Integration .........................................................................................................102Organizational Performance Alignment.................................................................................104

Resourcing .......................................................................................................................106Staffing ...................................................................................................................................106

Competency Analysis.............................................................................................................108Organizational Capability Management.................................................................................110Continuous Capability Improvement .....................................................................................112

Skills Development..........................................................................................................114Training and Development.....................................................................................................115Career Development...............................................................................................................116Competency Development .....................................................................................................118

Mentoring ...............................................................................................................................120Workforce Management ..................................................................................................121

Work Environment .................................................................................................................121Staff Performance Management.............................................................................................123Compensation.........................................................................................................................125Quantitative Performance Management.................................................................................127

Knowledge Management .................................................................................................129

Competency-Based Practices .................................................................................................129Competency-Based Assets .....................................................................................................131Continuous Workforce Innovation.........................................................................................133

Summary of the People Capabilities Profile....................................................................135Chapter 9OMCM SpecificationProcess .......................................... 137Overview..........................................................................................................................137

Process Maturity Criteria .......................................................................................................138

Definitions ..............................................................................................................................140Create IT Services............................................................................................................140


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Service Level Management....................................................................................................141Availability Management.......................................................................................................143

Implement IT Services.....................................................................................................144Release Management..............................................................................................................144

Deliver IT Services ..........................................................................................................147Capacity Management............................................................................................................147Incident Management.............................................................................................................149Capabilities Profile.................................................................................................................151Service Desk...........................................................................................................................151

Improve IT Services.........................................................................................................153Problem Management ............................................................................................................153Continuous Process Improvement..........................................................................................155

Control .............................................................................................................................157IT Financial Management ......................................................................................................157Configuration Management....................................................................................................159Change Management..............................................................................................................161

Protect IT Services...........................................................................................................163

IT Service Continuity Management .......................................................................................164Security Management.............................................................................................................165

Summary of the Process Capabilities Profile ..................................................................168Chapter 10OMCM SpecificationTools ........................................... 169Specification of Management Tools Architecture ...........................................................170Implementation of Functional Components ....................................................................172

Element and Resource Managers ...........................................................................................174Event and Information Managers...........................................................................................176Service Level Managers .........................................................................................................178Process Workflow Managers .................................................................................................180Management Portals...............................................................................................................182

Degree of Visibility .........................................................................................................184Integration of Components ..............................................................................................186Process Automation .........................................................................................................189Effectiveness of the Implementation ...............................................................................191Summary of the Tools Capabilities Profile......................................................................193

Part 4Conclusion....................................................................197Chapter 11Application of the OMCM................................................ 199Assessment and Scoring ..................................................................................................200

Vendor Application..........................................................................................................202Chapter 12Resources for More Information ..................................... 205


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Service Management and IT Process Links ...........................................................................205Management Tools Vendors ..................................................................................................206

Chapter 13About the Authors .............................................................207Edward Wustenhoff................................................................................................................207Michael J. Moore....................................................................................................................207Dale H. Avery ........................................................................................................................208

Index ................................................................................................................................209


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v i C o n t e n t s F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 5


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v i i

1

Part 1Introduction

Part 1 of this document provides an executive summary and introduces the conceptof operational capability, the capabilities mod el described in this d ocumen t, andcompares it w ith other ind u stry stand ard s and m odels. Part 1 contains the followingchapters:

Chap ter 1, Execu tive Sum ma ry Chap ter 2, Introdu ction


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1

1

Execu tive Su mm ary

Today s IT organizations are un der p ressure to m eet or imp rove IT service levels forcritical business functions despite shrinking budgets and amidst organizational,process efficiency, and autom ation challenges. In an effort to provid e consistent andpred ictable levels of service to th eir respective organ izations, IT depar tmen ts hav einvested h eavily in techno logy resources (peop le, processes, and tools) to m anagethe extended d ata center. Despite this investm ent, many firm s are still not able toeffectively m anage th e IT environm ent an d m eet the service level requ irements forusers of the organ ization's IT prod ucts and services.

Successful IT m anagem ent cann ot be pu rchased ou t-of-the-box. Imp lementation of arobust IT man agemen t infrastructure is as mu ch an exercise in organ izational changeas it is a techn ology imp lementation. Opera tional capab ility is therefore acquired inan evolutionary manner, over time, through the application of a continuousimprovement methodology that addresses the combination of people, process, andtools components.

Various ind ustry st and ards, such as th e IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and theControls Objective for Information and Related Techn ology (COBIT) stand ard , havegained wide acceptance as comprehensive methodologies for improving theeffectiveness of IT ma nagem ent. Wh at these m ethod ologies lack, how ever, arespecific metrics that can be u sed t o m easure an d assessin an objective andconsistent m ann erthe effectiveness of IT manag ement in an organ ization.

This docum ent introd uces the Sun Microsystems Operations M anagement CapabilitiesM odel (OMCM ), a comprehensive, continuous improvement methodology for ITmanagement that: provides a p ractical fram ework an d measurable roadmap for enh ancing IT

management

encomp asses IT man agemen t best pr actices at all levels of the IT environm ent helps d efine, measu re, and thorou ghly assess, an organ izations current IT

capability as w ell desired futu re capability

maps IT management disciplines to the architecture used to implement it


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2 Execut ive Summ ary February 2005

provides the basis of assessment for the purpose of determining where best toinvest in IT resources in sup port of key business need s

The OMCM is based o n the Sun IT Management Framework (Sun ITMF ), w hich definesthe th ree d ifferent aspectspeop le, processes, and toolsof an organizations ITman agemen t infrastructure. The p eople aspect represents the skills, training,man agemen t, and d iscipline required to effectively an d efficiently execute theprocesses and ru n th e tools to sup port the IT lifecycle and aut omate th e ITman agemen t processes. The process aspect represents the actual IT m anagem entprocesses used to su p port the IT service life cycle. The tools aspect represents t heactual techn ology used to facilitate and autom ate the execution of the variou s ITman agement processes.

This docum ent consists of the follow ing par ts:

Part 1, Introdu ction, d efines t he concept of op erational capability, introdu cesthe operations management capabilities model, and surveys related industrystandards and models.

Part 2, Sun IT Management Framew ork (Su n ITMF) introdu ces the Sun ITMFand d escribes, at a high level, its core aspectspeop le, p rocesses, and tools.

Part 3, Operations Mana gement Ca pabilities Model (OMCM), is the OMCMspecification th at introd uces the O MCM, delineates the var ious levels of IToperational m aturity an d d escribes the peop le, process, and tools aspects of theOMCM. It pr ovides various w ays to measu re IT cap abilityd egrees of imp lementation (ad hoc, emerging, fun ctional, effective, and opt imized), criticalfactors to m easure, assessment criteria, and metrics that prov ide pr edictive ordescriptive measures.

Part 4, Conclusion, describes how th e OMCM can ap plied w ithin an

organization.


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About This Document 3

2

Introduction

This chapter introduces the Operations Management Capabilities Model (OMCM).It includes the following sections:

About This Docum ent Concept of Op erational Capability Operations Management Capabilities Model Other Ind ustry Standard s and Mod els What This Docum ent Contains

About This Docu mentThis docum ent p rovides a comp rehensive overview of an Op erations ManagementCapabilities Mod el (OMCM) d eveloped by Sun. It provides th e followinginformation:

background information on the d evelopm ent of the m odel the motivations for building the model

taxonomy of th e various levels of the OM CM

description of the IT management framework that is used as the basis of thecapabilities m odel

Note Throughout this document, terms are defined within the context of theOMCM an d the Sun IT Managem ent Framew ork (Su n ITFM). Su ch d efinitionsrepresent Suns interpretations of industry standard terminology. We providedefinitions to ensure that terms are used consistently and to set the properexpectations for w hat isand w hat is notspecified in this docum ent.


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4 Introduction February 2005

Concept of Operational Capabili tyIn an effort to pr ovide consistent and pred ictable levels of service to theorganization, IT departments have invested heavily in technology to manage theextended data center. Accord ing to IDC 1, worldw ide spending on systems andstorage m anagem ent software w as ap proximately $13.3 billion in 2001.

Despite this heavy investmen t, many firm s are not able to effectively m anage th e ITenvironm ent. Surv eys and estim ates from a variety of sources ind icate that few

organizations actually deliver (defined as putting a solution into production ) anenterpr ise manag ement p roject. Even fewer succeed (defined as having t he solutionmeet or exceed expectations ) with th e effort. Past surv eys from Gartner 2 reveal thatenterpr ise event console implemen tations have a comp letion rate of 40% and asuccess rate of 20%. Although the Gartn er research is dated , there is little to ind icatethat th is has changed significantly in the p ast five years.

The growing realization that management cannot be purchased out-of-the-box hasled to increasing interest in IT operational p rocesses. Various stan dard s, such as th eIT Infrastru cture Library (ITIL) and the Controls Objective for Information andRelated Techn ology (COBIT) stand ard, are u sed extensively in Europe to imp roveeffective IT manag ement an d ar e rapidly gaining acceptance within the Un itedStates.

Finally, there are alw ays ongo ing efforts to add ress the peop le wh o ma nage the ITenvironm ent, with one of the latest trends being the shifting of IT developm ent andsup p ort activities to lower cost locations overseas. When th is is don e, there should

be a stand ard against w hich the overseas IT delivery / IT delivery team can bemeasured.

All of these efforts on the p art of IT organizations are focu sed on p roviding valu e tothe organization. How ever, the desired resu lt is not n ecessarily an operationalmonitoring environm ent or a robust change m anagement p rocess. As the old ad agesays, a person wh o buys a sh ovel d oes not really want a shovelthey w ant a hole inthe ground. The same holds true for organizations that make investments inenterpr ise manag ement techn ology, process imp lementation, or staffing. Wh at is

actually being p urchased is the ability to meet the service level requirements for bothinternal and external users of the organization's IT prod ucts and services. Thepeop le, pr ocess, and tools are sim ply a m eans to acqu ire this cap ability.

1. Worldwide Enterprise Sy stem M anagement Software Forecast and A nalyst S umm ary 2002 2006 , IDC Bulletin 27402,2002.

2. Effectiv ely M anaging Ev ent Console Implementations , Gartner Gro up Docum ent COM -03-6600, May 1998.


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Concept of Operational Capability 5

In this document, we define operational capability as :

The combin ation of p eople, p rocess, and tools that provid es an organization w iththe ability to d eliver IT services to an agreed up on serv ice level in a p redictable

fashion with acceptable risk and cost.The follow ing figure p rovides a visual representation of the interaction amon g theprocess, people, and tools components that results in an organization's operationalcapability.

FIGURE 2-1 Components of Operational Capability

Our wor king d efinition of opera tional capab ility helps u s identify w hat it is wewan t. N ow, how do w e acquire it? As experience has show n, an organization cann otsimply bu y oper ational capab ility throu gh investm ents in technology. For exam ple,the enterprise management framework, wh ich used comprehensive enterprise

systems m anagem ent ap plications to measu re IT's capabilities, resulted in m anyfailed experiences for organizations d uring the late 1990s.

Because the comp onents of operational capability include n ot only tools but alsopeop le and p rocess, it is very d ifficult to acquire operational capability th roug h arevolutionary or big bang approach. Implementation of a robust IT managementinfrastructure is as mu ch an exercise in org anizational change as it is a technologyimplementation.

Therefore, operational capability is someth ing that is acqu ired in an evolutionary fashion over time. Ope rational capability cann ot be obtained throu gh the comp letionof a single p roject or technology investm ent. It is developed in an evolutionarymann er through th e app lication of a continuous imp rovement method ology thatad dresses the combination of people, process, and tools comp onents.


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Operations Management Capabil itiesModelExperience has show n that IT organizations pass throu gh a series of stages or levelsas they improve their operational capability. Becauseat a high leveldifferentorganizations are wor king on th e same p roblem (operational capability), thisevolutionary p rocess is somew hat consistent. A large pa rt of this consistency isdriven by the d ependen cies that exist among the various parts that make u p the

process, p eople, or tools comp onen ts.

For example, most organizations will not be driven to implement an eventmanagement solutionthe single pane of glass or manager of managerssolution in wh ich a single console is used to agg regate informat ion from mu ltiplelower level management systemsuntil the underlying components of the solutionhave been d eployed. The service level m anagem ent p rocess is difficult to implementsuccessfully u nless there exists a set of associated change, asset, and inciden tman agemen t processes. There are also dep end encies across the compon ents of operational cap ability. Successful d eploymen t of a service level man agem ent toolrequires that a correspon ding set of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) be man agedto. Such SLAs w ill proba bly not exist u nless a service level man agemen t p rocess is inplace.

We believe that op erational capa bility develops in a consistent fashion ov er time,and w e feel that it is possible to prod uce a m odel of operational capability. In thisdocum ent, a model is defined as a schematic description of a system or theory that

accounts for its known properties3.

Such a model has a number of potential uses. At a minimum, a capabilities modelcan help define the problem of managin g the IT environm ent by captur ing the entireproblem space and providing a comm on framework for its analysis and discussion.Therefore, the mod el serves as a comm u nications veh icle that allows d ifferent p artsof the organization to d escribe both the cur rent state of IT capability and a d esiredstate.

A capabilities mod el also serves as the basis of a continuou s imp rovementmeth od ology. By d escribing a series of steps in th e evolution of oper ationalcapability, the model supports the development of an architecture and the roadmapto realize it. This mod el is an attemp t to captu re the experiences of the indu stry inthe development and deployment of IT management infrastructure. By specifying alogical sequence of activities, the m odel h elps organ izations to focus investmen t.

3. The American Heritage Dictionary (Third Ad d ition), Dell Pu blishing, New York, NY 1994.


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Operations M anagement Capabilities M odel 7

For organizations like Sun , the capabilities mod el provides th e basis of assessmen tand remediation services that may be offered to customers as they attempt toimprove the availability of key systems, applications, and services. Availabilitycannot just be purchased. It must be planned for and managed. The availability of critical systems is a fun ction of the sou nd ness of the dep loyment architectu re, thereliability of the bu ild ing blocks (hardw are, software, netw ork), and the capability of the organization to d eploy, manage an d p rotect them. Vend ors do th eir custom ers adisservice w hen th ey attemp t to solve availability issues by focusing on on e of theaspects to the exclu sion of the others.

In order to be u seful, this model need s to define, at som e level, the comp onents of operational capability, their relationships, and the evolutionary path that is followed

to acquire and integrate them into the organization. The model needs to beimprovement focused with clearly defined requirements for each step. The modelshou ld also be sp ecified w ith su fficient detail to sup por t p ractical application by ITprofessionals. How ever, too m u ch detail can m ake the m odel inflexible andcommunicate a level of accuracy that might not exist. Therefore, a certain level of amb iguity is p resent by design to allow th e mod el to be app lied in a w ide variety of roles and situations.

We name this model the Operations M anagement Capabilities M odel (or OMCM ) toreinforce two ideas:

This mod el predominately d eals w ith th e operational infrastructure . We referencethe bu siness and ap plication delivery environm ents as necessary to set context oridentify requirements, and p rocess interfaces. As w ill be described in the chapt erson the m anagement framework, w e draw a clear line between the three areas.

This m odel mak es the distinction betw een capability an d maturity . In some cases,both terms are used interchangeably when discussing the evolution of IT

operations. How ever, we believe there is no p articular advan tage in having amature environment. Over the years, many mature organizational processes havebeen found to be inefficient or d ow nright d ysfunctional. We believe that the termcapability better defines the reason for investm ent.


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Other Industry Standards and ModelsThe id ea of operational cap ability or matu rity is not a new one. A num ber of industry initiatives and standard s introduce and use the id ea that capability isdeveloped in a defined pattern over time. In fact, we have leveraged concepts anddetails from some of these models in the development of the OMCM.

This section briefly d escribes tw o d ifferent m aturity m odels: Gartner IT Process Matur ity Model

Vrije Universiteit IT Service Capability Maturity Model

Other maturity models were also reviewed, including the Model specified in theCOBIT Managem ent Gu idelines 4 and other work by the Software EngineeringInstitute, such as th e Software Cap ability Matu rity Mod el (CMM).

Gartner IT Process Matu rity Mod elGartner 5 has d eveloped a IT Process Matu rity Mod el that iden tifies five levels of ITmat urity, as su mm arized in the follow ing table.

4. COBIT M anagement Guidelines (Third Edition ) , IT Governa nce Institute, July 2000.5. IT Process M aturity , Research N ote DF-08-6312, July 22, 1999.

TABLE 2-1 Gartn er IT Process Maturity Mod el (Gartn er Group 1999)

LevelIT ProcessMaturity Description

EstimatedDistribution ofOrganizations

4 Va lu e IT o rg an iz at io n a nd m e tr ic lin ka ge ; u se o f man agement and app lications to imp rove the businessprocess; enh anced cost recovery.


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Other Industry St andards and M odels 9

The basis of the Gartner model is that organizations evolve through the variousprocess matu rity levels. Gartn er estimat es that ma inframe shop s took 10 to 20 yearsto reach the Level 3 (Service level) of the model described in the previous table.Information Services shop s sup porting d istributed systems h ave not h ad as long tomatu re. Because the nu mber s are from 1999, it is safe to assum e that the distributionof organizations has drifted more towards Level 2, driven by the need to operatemission critical distributed app lications for eBusiness an d other fun ctions. How ever,it is our contention th at a m ajority of the d istribu ted IS organizations are still belowLevel 3.

Vrije Universiteit IT Service Capability MaturityModelIn Decem ber 1999, F. Niessink and H . van Vliet of Vrije Un iversiteit 6 pu blished apap er d escribing a m atur ity mod el for IT service cap abilities based on th e SoftwareEngineering Institute's Software Cap ability Matu rity Mod el. Like Gartner, Niessink and van Vliet defined a m od el with five discrete levels, as described in th e followingtable.

6. The Vrije Universiteit IT Service Capability M aturity Model , Techn ical Repor t IR 463 Release I.2-1.0 , Frank Niessink an d H ans van Vliet, Decem ber 1999.

TABLE 2-2 IT Service Capability Maturity Model (F. Niessink and H. van Vliet 1999)

LevelIT ProcessMaturity D escription

5 Opt imizing Continuous process improvement i s enabled by us ing capturedmetrics and from innovation.

4 Managed Metr ics on the service process are captured. Service deliveryprocesses and services are quantitatively und erstood andcontrolled.

3 Defined IT p rocesses a re documen ted , s tandard ized , and in tegrat ed in to astand ard service process. All services are d elivered u sing variationsof the ap proved, stand ard service processes.

2 Repeatable Basic service management process is in place. It is possible to repeatsuccess on sim ilar services w ith similar serv ice levels.

1 In it ia l The se rv ice de livery p rocess is cha racter ized a s ad hoc o r chaotic.Few processes are defined and success depend s on individualefforts an d heroics.
http://i.2-1.0/http://i.2-1.0/


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1 0 Introduction February 2005

The mod el uses the same basic structu re as the Software CMM. A matu rity levelcontains key p rocess areas, w hich are organized by comm on features that aredefined by key p ractices. At the time of this d ocumen ts pu blication, the p rocessmat urity levels had been defined on ly up to Level 3 (Defined Maturity Level).

The IT Service Cap ability Maturity Mod el defines two key characteristics that w efound to be useful when specifying the OMCM:

The model is strictly ordered . This is explicitly stated by Niessink and van Vliet andimp lied by Gar tner. A strictly ordered m od el means that it is not possible toobtain a given level of matu rity withou t first m eeting the requiremen ts of theprevious levels. This reinforces the id ea that organizations evolve th e level of mat urity over time instead of bu ying it all in one step.

The model is minimal . Both m od els only state what is requ ired to reach a givenlevel. They do not restrict what might be done in addition to the minimum. Themod el also only describes wh at the requiremen ts areit does not sp ecify howthey are met.

Why A New Model?The development of a capabilities model was driven by the need to provide aframew ork for the developm ent and implementation of IT mana gementinfrastructure for Sun customers. Initially, we consid ered u sing one of the existingmod els (d escribed p reviously) as the w orking m odel for operational capability.However, although there are advantages to using an available model, weencountered the followin g issues: A m ajority of the mod els are focused on pr ocess and d eal very little with p eople

or technology considerations. Becau se we have defined op erational cap ability asthe combination of peop le, p rocess, and tools, it d oes not m ake sense to u se amodel that specified only the process component.

A nu mb er of the available m odels were n ot defined at a level of d etail thatsupported assessment or architecture efforts.

These process models d efine matu rity at any level as the existence or absence of specific processes. This tru e/ false ap p roach is inconsistent w ith ou r experience.

Processes are implemented to various degrees within the organization over time,and that a capabilities mod el shou ld d escribe this. The OMCM is an attemp t toaddress these issues while taking advantage of existing work in the area.


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What This Document Contains 1 1

What This Docu ment ContainsThis d ocumen t prov ides a comp lete description of the OMCM, w hich includ es boththe compon ents of operational capab ility (the Sun IT Manag ement Framew ork) andthe d etails of how this fram ewor k evolves over time.

This docum ent consists of the following par ts: Part 1, Introdu ction, consists of the following chapters:

Chap ter 1, Execu tive Su mm ary Chap ter 2, Introdu ction

Part 2, Sun IT Manag ement Framew ork, consists of the following chap ters:

Chap ter 3, Sun IT Manag ement Framew orkOverview Chap ter 4, Sun IT Managem ent Framew orkPeople Chap ter 5, Sun IT Managem ent Framew ork Process Chap ter 6, Sun IT Managemen t Framew orkTools

Part 3, Operations Man agem ent Cap abilities Mod el (OMCM), consists of the

following chap ters: Chapter 7, OMCM SpecificationOverview Chapter 8, OMCM SpecificationPeople Chapter 9, OMCM SpecificationProcess Cha pt er 10, OMCM SpecificationTools

Part 4, Conclusion, consists of th e followin g chap ters:

Chap ter 11, Application of the OMCM Chap ter 12, Resources for More Inform ation Chapter 13, About the Authors


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1 2 Introduction February 2005


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1 4 February 2005


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1 5

3

Sun IT Management Framew orkOverview

The OMCM need s to be specified w ithin the context of a framew ork tha t allows u sto qu antify the comp onents of op erational capability. We call this framew ork th e Su nIT M anagement Framework (or Sun ITMF .)

This chapter provides some context for the Sun IT Management Framework within

the extend ed IT environm ent. It contains th e following sections: Definitions of Key Terms

Introdu ction to the Su n E-Stack Business Framework

Execu tion Framew ork Sun IT Management Framework

The follow ing three chap ters provid e add itional detail on th e Su n ITMF. Chap ter 4, Sun IT Manag ement Fram ework People

Chap ter 5, Sun IT Manag ement Fram ework Process Chap ter 6, Sun IT Managemen t Fram ework Tools


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1 6 Sun IT M anagement Framework Overview February 2005

Defin itions of Key Term sBefore describing th e Su n IT Management Fram ew ork, we need to provid e Sun sd efinitions for key terms system , framework , architecture , and design that arefrequently ill defined and overused within the IT industry. Our working definitionsapply w ithin the context of this documentwe d o not m ake the claim that ou rdefinitions are the on ly correct ones.

SystemsFramew orks, architectures, and d esigns all provid e a description of a system . In thisdocumen t, a system is defined as a group of elements that work cooperatively to providespecific results by performing specific tasks .

System D evelopment StepsMost efforts to dev elop a system are iterative in natu re, with each iteration focu sedon increasing levels of detail.

The first step is to define the bus iness requirements an d priorities, quan tify theproblem to be solved, identify the major components of the solution, and makesome gen eral statements abou t their relationships. When possible, existinggeneralized descriptions of the problem and solution approaches are used.

The next step is to ad d context to includ e the systemic qu alities of the system(scalability, security, etc.) and t he d epen den cies betw een the system and theenvironment within w hich it operates.

The major components are further analyzed and developed. In many cases, thecomponents may be treated as systems them selves that mu st be quantified an dintegrated w ith th e other system comp onents.

Finally, the bluep rint m ust be d eveloped for the ph ysical realization of the systemthat identifies the actual d eployment ap proach w ithin the environment.

Althoug h th ese tasks provide is a very simp lified d escription of systemsdevelop men t, the basic flow can be u sed to help p rovide d efinitions for framew ork,architecture, and design.


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Definit ions of Key Terms 1 7

Fram ew ork, Architectu re, and DesignThe followin g table provides d efinitions used in this docu men t for framework ,

architecture , and design .

The OMCM is specified w ithin the context of the Sun IT Managem ent Framew ork (Sun ITMF). We believe that the Sun ITMF conforms to the definition of framework as given above. Of course, actual system im plementa tion requires ad ditional effort.Defining an architecture or d esign of a man agement sy stem is outside the scope of this docum ent.

TABLE 3-1 Definitions for Framew ork, Architecture, and Design

Term Definition

framework A predefined descr ip t ion of a sys tem that helps ident ify a ll possiblecomponents of the system, and how they cooperate to provide the

necessary functionality. This description is not developed withinany context. A framework is primarily a starting point for systemsdevelopment activities. It provides a mechanism for decomposingthe system into a set of interrelated subsystems, each with theirown components.

architec ture A sys tem descr ip t ion that accounts for the constra in ts imposed bythe environment within wh ich the system w ill be used. Anarchitecture is a system d escription w ith context. It is expressed at alevel of detail that is sufficient to describe the techn ologies that w illbe used to realize it, to specify the integration methods betweencomponents, and to identify high risk elements of the solution thatrequire further analysis.

design A descr ip t ion o f a syst em that de ta ils t he physica l r ea lizat ion o f thearchitecture. A design provides the blueprint for the actuald eploym ent of the system. It is specified at a level of detail that issufficient to support project planning, development, acquisition,and provisioning activities.


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Introduction to the Su n E-Stack 1 9

A comp lete d escription of the various E-Stack layers is ou tside the scope of thisdocu men t. How ever, the intent of each box is self evident and is defined later in th isdocumen t, when th e various frameworks th at sup port th e E-Stack are d escribed .

FIGURE 3-2 Three Core Frameworks Derived From the E-Stack

The components of the E-Stack involve three separate but mutually dependentarchitectural d isciplinesthe Business Fram ewor k, Execu tion Framew ork, and SunIT Manage men t Framew ork, as show n in the p revious figu re. The rest of this chapterdescribes these fram ework s further.


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Business Framew orkThe Business Framework encompasses the activities and requirements that drive theIT architecture p rocess, as show n in th e following figure.

FIGURE 3-3 Business Framework

The Business Fram ework consists of:

the various p rod ucts and or services that are core to the organizations bu siness the relationsh ips w ith the organ izations key external stakeholders (sup pliers,

partners, customers)

the people, processes, and technology required to support the production anddistribution of the organization's products and services.

The Business Framew ork pr ovides the basis of the organization requirements for theExecution Framework and the Sun IT Management Framework.


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Execution Framework 2 1

Execution Framew orkThe Execution Framework encomp asses th e various ap plication components(application, system hardware/ software, network, etc.) and their supportinginfrastructure.

FIGURE 3-4 Execution Framework


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Dimensions of the Execu tion Fram ework This section d escribes the three d imensions of the Execution Fram ew orkfunctionallayers, service tiers, and systemic qualities.

Fu nctional Layers

The functional layers of the Execution Framew ork d escribe the variou s techn ologycomp onents that make u p an ap plication, system, and the sup porting environm ent,including:

Bu siness logic that captu res the business p rocess being implemen ted. Software container an d services that this logic uses to execute its fun ction. Sup porting operating systems, hardw are, and other comp onents that provide

computing and data storage. Netw ork that connects the various distributed system s and enables

communication. Facilities (pow er, heat, light, etc.) that p rovide th e ap prop riate environm ent for a ll

of the ph ysical com pon ents of the architecture.

Serv ice Tiers

Th e service tiers of the Execution Framew ork d escribe the logical par titioning of functions w ithin a d istributed app lication. References to n -tier ap plications are, ineffect, describing this aspect of the Execution Framework.

Systemic Qualities

Systemic qualities capture the various non-functional (or operational) requirementsthat must be considered during the architectural process. These considerations donot impact how an ap plication w ill work bu t rather how well it will work. Theirposition as the third asp ect of the IT Execution Fram ewor k mean s that theserequiremen ts are considerations at each intersection of a service tier and functionallayers.


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Aspects of the Sun ITMF

The Sun ITMF consists of three different axes, or aspects , each of w hich details animpor tant p art of an organizations IT ma nagem ent infrastructure. These three

aspects are what we have previously defined as the components of operationalcapabilitypeople, pr ocesses, and tools.

The top-level d escription of each aspe ct is an ab straction of existing stan d ard s, suchas th e IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) or People Cap ability Ma turity M odel(P-CMM). Each aspect of the Sun ITMF is a generalized set of activities (people),processes (process), or functional categories (tools), under which specific solutionapproaches may be used. As will be seen in subsequent chapters, we have selectedapp roaches that combine our interpretation of indu stry recognized standard s andSun best p ractices.

People Aspect

The people aspect of the Sun ITMF represents th e organizational component of the ITenvironm ent. This inclu des IT operations staff, help d esk organizations, operationsand administrative groups, IT management, and any other internal IT stakeholders.The framew ork d epicts a first level set of activities that are app lied w hen man agingIT staff. These activities are designed to cover a ran ge of organizational ma nagem entfunctions, such as designing the organization, obtaining resources, and managingresources on a d ay-to-day basis. This asp ect also includ es the concept of creating,captu ring, and reusing organizational know ledge.

Process Aspect

The process aspect of the Su n ITMF represents th e actual IT management processes thatare needed to support the IT service life cycle. It describes processes for creating,deploying, and managing IT services.

Tools Aspect

The tools aspect of the Sun ITMF describes the technology used to facilitate andautom ate the execution of the various IT manag ement p rocesses. This fram ework isa functional categorization under which a variety of product approaches may beinserted.


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Sun IT Management Framework 2 5

Interaction Amon g th e Aspects

FIGURE 2-1, "Components of Operational Capability," on page 5 , shows th erelationships am ong th e three asp ects of the Sun ITMF. For examp le, peop le can

implement processes with or without toolspeople might not need to use tools toimplem ent a process. The natu re of these relationships a re not exp licitly defined.How ever, architects and im plemen ters should strive for a loose coupling of the asp ects(no rigid rules on how these aspects interact) when the framework is beingimplemented in an organization.

As operational capability is being id entified an d th e plan for imp rovement isdeveloped , no one asp ect (process, peop le, or tool) shou ld invalidate or negateanother. For examp le, a tool should not be d rive the process so that a chang e in th etool wou ld requ ire a major rewrite of the process. In fact, the process should bedefined first, the skills required n ext, and then the tool selected.


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4


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Overview of the Sun ITMF People Aspect 2 7

4

Sun IT Managem ent Fram eworkPeople

This chap ter describes the people aspect of the Sun IT Manag emen t Framew ork. Itinclud es the following sections:

Overview of the Su n ITMF People Asp ect Practices of the Sun ITMF People Aspect

Organizing Resourcing Skills Developm ent Workforce Man agemen t Knowledge Management

Overview of the Sun ITMF Peop leAspectThe people aspect of the Sun ITMF represents the organizational compon ent of the ITenvironm ent. This includ es IT operations staff, help d esk organizations, operationsand administrative groups, IT management, and any other internal IT stakeholders.

A m ajor p art of delivering IT services is mana ging the organ izations th at hav eresponsibility for executing th e various IT man agemen t processes. The people aspect of the Sun ITMF describes a set of practices necessary to en sure th at the ITinfrastructure is app ropriately staffed with p eople wh o have th e necessary skill sets.These activity group s also define p ractices necessary for the d ay-to-d ay m anagem entof the IT staff. The people aspect of the Sun ITMF describes a grouping of bestpractices for the development and management of an organization's IT workforce.


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Practices and Practice Categories


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Overview of the Sun ITMF People Aspect 2 9

Practices and Practice CategoriesThe first level description of the peop le aspect ( practice category ) is a generalcategorization un der w hich different best practices may be ap p liedorgan izing,skills development, resourcing, knowledge management, and workforceman agemen t. For the Sun ITMF, Su n m odeled its pr actices on those d efined in theSoftware Engineering Institute's Peop le Capability Maturity M od el (P-CMM) 7,although other suitable ind ustry standard mod els could have been used instead.The following sections introd uce each of the activity areas an d their associatedpractices. For detailed descriptions of each practice, see Part 3, OMCMSpecification.

DefinitionsThis d ocumen t mak es frequen t references to the notion of the competency of theorganization . The term competency , along with other a ssociated CMM term s, have veryspecific mean ings w ithin the CMM context. To clarify the u se of CMM term inologyin the context of the Sun ITMF, this section p rovides relevant d efinitions from the

CMM reference.

Competency

Competency is an un derlying characteristic of an ind ividua l that is cau sally related toeffective/ sup erior p erformance, as d etermined by m easurable, objective criteria, in ajob or situation. A correlation exists betw een an ind ivid uals comp etency and the

effectiveness in performing their job.

Comp etency Based Practices

Competency based practices describe how ind ivid uals w ithin a specific workforcecompetency apply their knowledge, perform their skills, and apply their processknow ledge w ithin the context of an organizations defined w ork p rocesses. Thesepractices m ight also in clu de inter-process relationship s (or mu lti-disciplinaryprocesses).

An orga nizations defined processes are often d escribed in terms of the p rocessesand proced ures related to different wor kforce competencies, such as the softwaredevelopm ent p rocess, the sales process, or the custom er training p rocess.Competency-based p rocesses and procedu res are documented, trained, performed,enforced, measured, and improved over time. The competency-based processes

7. People Capability Maturit y Model P-CMM Version 2.0 , Bill Cur tis, William E. He lfly, Sally A. Miller, Softwar eEngineering Institute, July 2001.

associated w ith a single workforce comp etency might represent on ly part of a


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3 0 Sun IT Management Framework People February 2005

g p y g p y pdefined orga nizational process, because other elements of the d efined process maybe performed by individuals with different workforce competencies.

Comp etency Based Processes

Competency based processes d efine how individ uals, within a sp ecific wor kforcecompetency, apply their process knowledge and experience, and how theyimp lement their skills, w ithin the context of an organization's defined wor k processes.

Workforce Competency

Workforce competency is cluster of know ledge, skills, and pr ocess expertise that anindividu al should d evelop to perform a p articular type of work in the organization.A w orkforce competency can be stated at a very ab stract level, such as a n eed for awor kforce comp etency in software engineering, finan cial accoun ting, or technicalw riting. Workforce competencies can also be d ecomposed into m ore granu lar

abilities, such a s comp etencies in d esigning avionics software, testing sw itchingsystem software, mana ging accoun ts receivable, p reparing consolidated corp oratefinan cial statements, or writing user m anu als and tra ining materials for reservationsystems.


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Practices of the Su n ITM F People Aspect 3 1

Practices of the Sun ITMF Peop le AspectThis section d escribes the practices associated w ith the Sun ITMF peop le aspect.Practices are group ed according to the follow ing categories:

Organizing Resourcing Skills Development Workforce Man agem ent Knowledge Management

OrganizingOrganizing is the pr actice category th at encomp asses the activities related to th edesign of the organization's stru cture. These activities w ould inclu de su ch pr acticesas iden tifying org anizational group s, developing sp ecific roles and respons ibilitiesfor each group, and describing the interfaces between groups.

Organ izing includ es the follow ing P-CMM pr actices:

Comm un ication / Coordination Workgroup Developm ent Workforce Planning Participatory Culture Empowered Workgroups Competency Integration Organizational Performance Alignment

Commu nication / Coordination

Communication / coordination p ractices focus on the establishm ent and m aintenance of information sharing within the organization. It includes the development of individu al com mu nications skills and the establishm ent of forma l processes toensure timely and effective two way communications.

Workgroup Development


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g p p

A workgroup is a collection of individu als, managed by a single respon sibleindividu al, wh o w ork together on interrelated tasks in sup port of common goals.

Workgroup development practices focus on identifying and creating th eseorganizational group ings in su pp ort of specific objectives using a comm on,repeatable methodology.

Workforce Planning

Workforce planning practices focus on aligning th e IT organization w ith the goals an d

objectives of the larger organization. This p ractice includ es iden tifying th e curren tand futu re comp etency needs of the organization based on expected activities, andthen planning the steps necessary to acquire this capability when needed.

Participatory Culture

Participatory culture practices focus on ensu ring that d ecision m aking is performed in

a structured manner, and then is executed at the appropriate levels of theorganization. The lines of comm un ication established by th e commu nication / coordination p ractice are used to ensure that w ork group s are informed about theirperform ance and its im pact on th e overall performan ce of the comp any. The d ecisionmak ing p rocess is designed to p rovide a b alance of speed and effectiveness. Decisionmak ing is delegated to th e levels in the organization that are best able to evalu ateand implement the d ecisions.

Em powered Workgroup s

Empowered workgroup practices involve workgroups that have responsibility andauth ority to determin e how to most effectively condu ct their operations. Thispr actice is focused on th e decentralization of p lanning, d ecision m aking, andoperations to each workgroup. The workgroup is held accountable for theirperform ance as measu red against sp ecific objectives.

Comp etency Integration

Competency integration practices refer to the integra tion of d ifferent w orkforcecompeten cies to im prove the efficiency of activities that h ave d epend encies acrossareas of comp etency. The intent of th is pra ctice is to institutionalize th e u se of competen cy centers as bu ild ing blocks to comp lete tasks requ iring amultidisciplinary approach.

Organizational Performance Alignmen t


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Organizational performance alignment pra ctices focus on assessing wh at imp act theaggregated p erformance of the various work groups w ithin the organ ization h as on

performance.

ResourcingResourcing is the p ractice category that encomp asses the activities necessary toacquire the ind ividua ls necessary to m eet the goals of the orga nization. This practiceinclud es such activities as identifying requ ired skill sets, determining h ow ma ny of each typ e is required, d eveloping a timeline for acquiring them , and identifyingsources to fill the requ irements.

Resourcing includ es the follow ing CMM pra ctices:

Staffing Competency Analysis Organizational Capability Management Continuou s Capability Imp rovement

Staffing

Staffing pr actices involve m atching wor k to ind ividu als. This practice includ esprocesses to recruit, select, and transition individuals into specific roles.

Comp etency Analysis

Competency analysis p ractices focu s on an alyzing th e activities of the organ izationand developing the complete inventory of comp etencies needed to su pp ort them.This invent ory includ es the ind ivid ual skills required as w ell as the id entification of processes and knowledge necessary to meet the workforce requirements of theorganization.

Organizational Capa bility Managem ent

Organizational capability management practices focus on managing a workgroupscapability to perform the competen cy based p rocesses that they u se. This practiceincludes benchmarking the performance of the competency based processes byidentifying k ey metrics, and th en establishing th e mechanisms to track and report onthem.

Continuous Capability Improvement


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Continuous capability improvement practices support workgroup efforts tocontinu ously imp rove their perform ance of competen cy based pra ctices. This

practice includes processes to improve individual performance, workgroupoperations, and cross competency coordination.

Skills DevelopmentSkills development is a p ractice category th at encomp asses activities taken to helpindivid uals acquire the know ledge and practical abilities necessary to perform theircurrent job or to prep are them for futu re assignm ents. Skills developm ent includ esthe follow ing CMM pra ctices.

Training and Development Career Development Comp etency Developm ent Mentoring

Training and Developm ent

The p urp ose of training and development pr actices is to close the gap s betw eenindivid ual skills and the requiremen ts of their curr ent p osition. This practicesinclude steps taken to provide individuals with opportunities to develop new skillsin anticipation of futu re needs.

Career Developmen t

Career development practices assist ind ivid uals w ith meeting their career goals andobjectives. This practice involves defining d evelopmen t p aths th at iden tify therequirements for advancement, and comm un icating t hese developmen t p aths to theorganization. Periodic reviews of career asp irations and opp ortun ities are performedwith ind ividu als to ensure that they un derstand the options available within theorganization. The goal is to ensure th at ind ivid uals see the organization as a p lacewhere they can develop and realize individual career goals.

Competency Development

Competency development pra ctices focus on continu ou sly im proving the ability of thewor kforce to execute th e required com petency based processes.

Mentoring


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Mentoring practices involve facilitating the transmission of experience andknowledge throughout the organization. This process is normally performed by

individuals as they pass on their competency knowledge to others via formal andinformal relationship s.

Workforce Man agem entW orkforce management is a p ractice category th at encomp asses the activitiesperformed to control and su pp ort individu als as they per form t heir tasks. Workforcemanagem ent includ es the mana gement of individ ual performance andcompen sation, as well as the activities necessary to p rovide th e wor kforce w ith theinfrastructure required to perform their job fun ctions.

Workforce m anagem ent includes t he followin g CMM practices:

Work Environment Staff Performance Ma nagem ent Compensation Quantitative Performance Management

Work Environment

Work environment practices involve ensuring that the physical working environmentis cond ucive for individu als to perform their job functions in an effective andefficient man ner. This practice includes th e d evelopmen t of p rocesses to evaluateand maintain the physical environment (work space), supporting technology(com pu ters, phones, etc.), procedu res to minim ize distractions, and so on.

Staff Performance Management

Staff performance management p ractices inv olve id entifying m etrics against w hichindividual and workgroup performance can be measured. The intent is to facilitatecontinuous d iscussion on individual and w orkgroup p erformance with the pu rposeof iden tifying w ays to imp rove this per formance. The goal of staff performan ceman agemen t is the creation of a feedback loop w ithin wh ich p erformance ismeasured, evaluated, and improved. Mechanisms for reward ing superiorperformance are identified and formalized in order to reinforce the appropriatebehaviors.

Compensation


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Compensation p ractices involve provid ing finan cial reward s to individu als inprop ortion to their contributions to the organization. The goal is to provide a system

that is viewed w ithin the organization as equitable. Once an equ itable rewardsystem is in p lace, it can be u sed to m otivate and reinforce specific behaviors that aredeemed important to achieving the goals of the organization.

Qua ntitative Performa nce Managem ent

Qu antitative performance management practices focus on the continuous performance

imp rovemen t of critical comp etency based processes. This pra ctice involvesidentifying th e priority p rocesses, develop ing metrics that are d escriptive of theeffectiveness and efficiency of these p rocesses, and then ap plying a processimprovement methodology to improve performance. Within Sun, the Sun SM Sigmameth od ology is used as the basis of process imp rovem ent activities.

Knowledge ManagementKnowledge management is a practice category that en comp asses such activities as thecaptu re, docum entation, main tenance, and d issem ination of organizational learning.Know ledge man agemen t enables the creation and m aintenance of com petency-basedpractices. Through the execution of know ledge man agemen t, organizations are ableto take su ccessful solutions an d institutionalize them for reu se. It is throu gh th is setof practices that org anizations d istribut e effective processes and m ake themrepeatable.

Knowledge management includes the following CMM practices:

Competency-Based Practices Com petency-Based Assets Continu ou s Workforce Innov ation

Comp etency-Based Practices

Competency-based practices are focused on the development of workforcecompeten cies. These pr actices are u sed to align th e staffing, comp ensation and otherresourcing practices with the comp etency developm ent goals of the organ ization.

Comp etency-Based Assets


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The pu rpose of the competency-based assets practices is to captu re the lessons learnedand artifacts developed during the execution of competency-based processes.

Workforce competency is expan ded beyond the skills of the individ ua l w orkers andlarger organizational units to includ e the reusable processes and other assets of thecompan y. These p ractices include the activities necessary to capture know ledge, aswell as the mechanisms u sed to d isseminate this know ledge throu ghout th eorganization so tha t it becom es an integral part of th e organization.

Continuous Workforce Innovation

Continuous workforce innovation pr actices focus on continu ous im prove men t effortsfor the w orkforce. This p ractice inclu des the activities involved with setting p oliciesfor workforce improvement, measuring the performance of the organization againstthe goals, and facilitating wor kforce process improv ement t hrou gh th e identificationof opportun ities and the implementation of new app roaches.


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5


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3 9

Sun IT Managem ent Fram ework Process

This chap ter describes the process aspect of the Sun IT Management Framework.It includes the following sections:

Overview of the Sun ITMF Process Asp ect Processes of the Sun ITMF Process Aspect

Implement IT Services Deliver IT Services Improve IT Services Con trol IT Services Protect IT Services


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4 0 Sun IT Management Framework Process February 2005

Overview of the Sun ITMF ProcessAspectThe process aspect of the Su n ITMF represents th e actual IT managem ent p rocessesthat ar e need ed to su pp ort th e IT service life cycle. The p rocess asp ect d escribesprocesses for creating, deploying, and ma naging IT services.

Diagram of the Sun ITMF Process AspectThe followin g figure sh ows the Sun ITMF peop le aspect, its p rocess categories, itsspecific processes, and the relationship s am ong th em:

FIGURE 5-1 Sun ITMFProcess Aspect


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P f h S ITMF P


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Processes of the Sun ITMF ProcessAspectThis section d escribes the p rocesses associated with the Sun ITMF process aspect.Processes are group ed according t o the following categories:

Implement IT Services Deliver IT Services Improve IT Services

Con trol IT Services Protect IT Services

Create IT ServicesTh e create IT services process category describes all processes related to the creationof new services, includ ing id entifying, qu antifying, architecting, and d esigning ITservices. It involves: Determining what services are needed and desired for the IT customers.

Defining of th e relationship between IT custom ers and the IT service p rovider,including the definition of Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

Add ressing th e processes th at ensur e the comp leteness of the IT service portfolioand the alignm ent of the IT Services with each other.

Create IT services includes the following ITIL based processes: Service Level Management Availability Man agemen t

Service Level Man agem ent

The service level management (SLM) process inv olves: plann ing, coord inating, drafting, agreeing, mon itoring, and reporting on SLAs

the on-going review of service achievem ents to ensu re that the required a nd cost-ju stifiable service quality is maintained and grad ually improve d.

SLAs provide the basis for managing the relationship between the provider and theIT customer. An SLA is a w ritten agreement betw een the IT service prov ider an d theIT service customer(s). It defines the key service targets and responsibilities of bothparties. The emphasis must be on agreement SLAs should not be u sed for coercingone side or the oth er. A true partnership should be developed between the IT

provider and the customer so that a mutually beneficial agreement is reached;otherw ise, the SLA could qu ickly fall into disrepu te and an ensu ing culture of blam ecould prevent the development of any true service quality improvements.


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Processes of the Sun ITM F Process A spect 4 3

could prevent the development of any true service quality improvements.

The following figure illustrates the SLM process:

FIGURE 5-2 Service Level Man agem ent Process

The service level man agemen t p rocess includ es the following main categories of activities (note that this is a circular process):

plan and d esign implement and execute

control and feedback

Availability Man agem ent

The availability management process involves managing key components of thepredictability and availability of IT services. Availability requirements heavilyinfluen ce service architectu re d esign. Availability m anagem ent is th e p rocess th atassures the ability of an IT service or com pon ent to p erform its required fun ction ata stated instant or over a stated period of time.

Plan and designnew services

Control

Monitor

Report

Review

Implement and execute SLAs

Catalogue

Draft

Negotiate

Review UCsand OLAs

Agree andexecute

Review SLAs, OLAs,and UCs

Review SLMProcess

Availability (or, rather, unavailability) is the key indicator of service qualityperceived by bu siness users. Availability is und erpinn ed by the reliability andmain tainability of the IT infrastructure an d the effectiveness of the IT sup port


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y p porganization. An IT service that consistently meets its SLA's availability targets has

the characteristics of low frequ ency of failure and rap id resum ption of service afteran incident has occurred.

The following figure shows the inputs and outputs of the availability managementprocess, as w ell as the imp ortance of being d riven by bu siness requirements.

FIGURE 5-3 Availability Management ProcessInpu ts an d Outpu ts

Availability d epen ds on oth er comp onents of the service. The following figure show swh at these relationships are and h ow they are m anaged.

AvailabilityManagement

Inputs

Business requirements

Business impact analysis

Availability, reliability andmaintainability requirements

Incident and problem data

Configuration andmonitoring data

Service Level Achievements

Output

Design Criteria

Infrastructure resilience (riskassessment)

SLA's for availability,reliability and maintainability

Reporting

Monitoring, assessing andimprovement plans

User Community


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FIGURE 5-4 Availability Management ProcessDependencies and Contracts

This figur e also show s the terminology an d typ e of contracts used to define therelationships. Add itional details about the stru cture of these agreemen ts are outsidethe scope of this document.

y

AvailabilitySLAs

Service Provider

IT Services

IT Systems

IT Systems

IT Systems

Internal Service Suppliers(e.g. Development, Networking)

External Service Suppliers(e.g. Vendors, Telecom, Power)

Reliability & ManageabilityOLAs

Serviceability(Contracts)

Imp lement IT ServicesThe implement IT services process category encomp asses efforts to p roperly roll-out of


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p p g y p p p ya new or up d ated IT service that has been created. Imp lement IT services includ es

the ITIL based Release Management process.

Release Management

The release management process involves a collection of auth orized changes to an ITservice. A release typically consists of a nu m ber of problem fixes and enhan cementsto the service, the new or changed software required, and any new or changed

hardw are needed to implement th e app roved changes. The following table d escribesthe m ost comm on categories of releases:

Release man agemen t is concerned w ith changes to d efined IT services. The releaseman agemen t pr ocess facilitates the following activities involved in theimplementation of IT Services: Planning and overseeing the successful rollout of software and related hardware. Designing and implementing efficient procedures for the distribution and

installation of changes to IT systems. Ensuring that the hardware and software being changed is traceable, secure, and

that on ly correct, auth orized, and tested versions are installed Comm unicating w ith, and man aging th e expectations of, the customer d uring the

planning and rollout of new releases. Achieving ag reement abou t the exact content and rollout p lan for the release

through liaison w ith change m anagement.

TABLE 5-1 Release Management Categories

Release Category Descript ion

Major softwa rereleases andhardware upgrades

Nor mally contain large areas of new functionality, some of whichmay make intervening fixes to p roblems redu nd ant. A majorup grade or release usually supersedes all preceding m inorupgrades, releases, and emergency fixes.

Minor softwarereleases andhardware upgrades

Normally contain small enhancements and fixes, some of whichmay have a lready been issued as emergency fixes. A m inorup grade or release usually supersedes all preceding em ergencyfixes.

Emergency softwareand hardw are fixes

Norma lly contain the corrections to a small num ber of knownproblems.

Implementing new software releases or hardware into the operationalenvironment using the controlling processes of configuration management andchange management. A release should be u nd er change m anagement and may

i f bi i f h d f fi d d i


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consist of any combination of hardware, software, firmware, and documentation

configura tion items. Ensuring that m aster copies of all software are secured in the d efinitive softw arelibrary (DSL) and that the Con figurat ion Man agemen t Data b ase (CMDB) isupdated .

Ensuring that all hardware being rolled out or changed is secure and traceable,using the services of configuration management.

The focus of release man agem ent is the p rotection of the live environm ent, or ITservice delivery environmen t, and its services through the u se of formal procedu res

and checks.

Release management works closely with the change management and configurationman agemen t processes to ensure that th e shared CMDB is kept up -to-date followingchanges imp lemented by new releases, and that th e content of those releases isstored in th e DSL. Ha rdw are specifications, assem bly instru ctions, and netw ork configur ations are also stored in th e DSL/ CMDB.

The following figure s how s the ma in release activities and its close ties toconfiguration managem ent.

FI

Documents

Operational Capability