UNIT 310: BUSINESS

PROCESSES

Outcome 2

4/3/20

Swaraj Jeyasingh

Agenda for the day

• 09.00 - 09.20 - Quick recap

• 0920 - 1015 - IT Support for Business

• 1015 - 1045 - Break

• 1045 - 1100 - Smart Assessor refresher

• 1100 - 1200 - IT Support for Business cont’d

• 1200 - 1230 - Sample Test Paper

• 1230 - Lunch

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Unit Outcomes

1. Understand business processes and information

security requirements that apply to IT the function (IT

Management)

2. Understand IT skills and services that support business

operations – (IT Support)

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What can you remember from last week?

• IT Management

• What needs managing

• Why does it need managing

• How is it managed

• SOP

• Notion of a System Lifecycle

• ITSM and ITIL

• 5 Stages

• Information Security

• CIA

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Why do IT systems need managing

• Large – made up of many interrelated sub-systems

• Complex

• Keeps changing – sometimes fast

• Critical to business

• Largely invisible – e.g. the network

• Constant change - New systems/processes come, old

systems/processes are withdrawn, current systems need

to be maintained (fixes, updates)

• These activities need to be managed

• IT Service Management - ITSM – ISO20000

• Lifecycle view often used

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1.1 Business System Lifecycle

What is a lifecycle – a series of steps that occur in a

cyclical fashion; either naturally or deliberately

Many different lifecycles occur in industry e.g. software

development lifecycle, product lifecycle, project lifecycle.

They are models – a way of picturing something; useful in

aiding understanding what goes on but not exactly

replicated in real life. A close approximation to what actually

goes on.

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ITIL Business System Lifecycle

• Each stage of lifecycle contains sub processes which run

all the time

• Strategy – looking ahead to what new services are

needed to maintain the IT system/platform

• Design – design the new service

• Transition – introduce the new service and withdraw the

old

• Operations – operate the service, daily actions, fixes etc

• Continual Improvement – see what can be improved and

plan and introduce via Strategy etc

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04/03/2020 Colchester Institute

Standard Operating Procedures

A standard operating procedure, or SOP, is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organization to help workers carry out complex routine operations. i.e. TO MANAGE operations

SOPs aim to achieve efficiency, quality output and uniformity of performance, while reducing miscommunication and failure to comply with industry regulations. (from Wikipedia)

SOPs widely used in public health, military, govts where the scale of operation is large and/or strict discipline is needed.

Many apply in the IT arena.

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SOP in IT

Procedures for common tasks to help you do your job

efficiently and in a consistent manner

• Time Tracking/Timesheet filling

• Problem Reporting

• Email etiquette

• Disaster recovery

• Setting up a new computer

• Decommissioning

• H&S related

• Security – physical and information

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1.2 Common Information Security

Requirements

Legislation (what legal protection is there)

• Human Rights Act – right to privacy

• Data Protection Act/GDPR – how personal data must be

handled with care (8 principles)

• Computer Misuse Act – clarifies what is allowed/not allowed

• PERC (Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations)

- controls email and other marketing

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Information Security Framework (CIA)

A model designed to guide policies for information security

within an organization. i.e. if you have policies that cover

these three, then you’re in a good place!

• Confidentiality – mechanisms to ensure privacy and

confidentiality; rules to limit access so that right people

can get information and wrong people can’t. Includes the

categorization of data by sensitivity (i.e.Top Secret)

• Methods used inc: passwords, encryption, stand alone

computers, Biometrics, hard copy

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Information Security Framework (CIA)

• Integrity - maintaining the consistency, accuracy, and

trustworthiness of data over its entire life cycle. Not damaged in transit by human or natural causes (server crash, electromagnetic radiation etc)

• Availability – making sure all systems are available when needed through maintenance (updates & fault fixes), DRP, back ups, redundancy, RAID,

• CIA will vary in detail across different industry sectors.

• https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Confidentiality-integrity-and-availability-CIA

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O2: IT support for business operations

• Understand IT skills and services that support business

operations

• In this learning outcome the learners will explore the

fundamental IT service requirements of organisations,

including systems, platforms and service management

skills.

• 2.1 IT systems and platforms

• 2.2 IT service management skills

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What is a business

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• People

• Money

• Organisation

• Common purpose

• Structure

• Procedures

• Inc. schools, hospitals

What are some common business sectors

and what are their business processes

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This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

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This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC

BY-SA

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Some business sectors and their

business processes

• Education sector – admissions, timetabling, staff

management, progression, exams and quals,

• Manufacturing – order fulfilment, purchasing, production;

• Professional services – case management, invoicing,

• Finance and Banking – transaction management,

• Local government – service delivery, admin, budget,

• Agriculture – crop management, transport

• Energy – production, supply, billing

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Common Processes

All/Most require

• Sales and Marketing - advertising, business development

• HR – staff, recruitment, pensions

• Accounts – payroll, invoicing, payments

• IT support – build, deploy, maintain, upgrade, withdraw,

problem management, change management, etc,

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Business Processes: Order Fulfilment

Example

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Where is IT in all this?

IT in the Business (layers)

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2.1 IT Systems and Platforms

• What systems are there, what do they do and why are

they critical for business

• Cross-functional (not specific to business dept or sector)

• Desktop applications (productivity s/w such as MS Word, Excel)

• Messaging systems (Email, Chat) – client s/w, web based

• Presentation s/w – stills and moving image

• Document management - all aspects of document production but

also controlling access to documents – e.g. Documentum,

Docusign

• Printing solutions

• Reporting

• General purpose database - training, holiday, asset

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Dedicated Systems

• HR systems – payroll, timesheets, employee tracking, training, CPD etc

• Education – SIMS, EBS, VLEs,

• Sales/Marketing - CRM (e.g. ACT!, MS Dynamics, Salesforce)

• Finance systems – Accounts (e.g. Sage, Access,), ERP (e.g Netsuite). Billing

• System monitoring – power station, utilities,

• Production Systems – stock control, manufacturing, MRP

• Manufacturing – CAD (2D,3D), CAM, Digital Twin

Many systems are now hosted (Cloud based)

Drive for more efficiency through integration (MRP, ERP)

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2.2. Service management skills required

for delivery of IT services.

What are some of the skills you need to deliver IT services

to the rest of business.

• Customer Service

• Technical Skills

• Service Strategy

• Service Operation

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Customer Service skills

Customer Relationships –

• Why its important to have good CR – repeat business,

less costs

• How to Build and maintain good customer relationships

• Good communication style, no jargon, open questions

• Listening skills

• Openness and Trust – no hiding behind technobabble

• Keeping commitments – follow up, attention to detail

• Showing awareness of other persons priorities

• Customer Satisfaction - use of surveys:

formal/unsolicited anecdotal, online, telephone based

• Supported by CRM tools such as ACT!, MS Dynamics,

Salesforce

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Customer Skill: Stakeholder Management

The process of managing the expectation of anyone that has an interest in a project or will be effected by its deliverables or outputs.

A stakeholder is any individual, group or organization that can affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a programme. (Wiki)

Stakeholder analysis is often used to identify who are real stakeholders – not always obvious

From a longlist of stakeholders, you can identify the top few

Some may be affected by your actions (downstream) others can block or help you (Upstream)

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Stakeholder Analysis

• High power, interested people: these are the people you

must fully engage and make the greatest efforts to satisfy.

• High power, less interested people: put enough work in

with these people to keep them satisfied, but not so much

that they become bored with your message.

• Low power, interested people: keep these people

adequately informed, and talk to them to ensure that no

major issues are arising. These people can often be very

helpful with the detail of your project.

• Low power, less interested people: again, monitor these

people, but do not bore them with excessive

communication. (Source: Wikipedia)

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Technical skills: What is needed

• Analytics – ability to analyse (non-trivial) problems and solve in a

systematic way

• 4, 5 or 6 step method – verify, gather information, consider different explanations, test out most likely cause, choose best solution, implement, check that it does work, document what happened and why

• Pareto Analysis

• Gap Analysis, Substitution,

• Testing - importance in fault analysis, in deployment/commission, in maintenance, disaster recovery,

• Never assume that it will work as before – test it

• Strive for independent testing – how?

• Importance of end –to end testing to prove whole system works

• Design/architecture

• Of individual computer – main components in h/w and s/w

• Of major systems and networks – email, websites, databases, LAN, Cloud

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Service Strategy Skills

Know what these terms mean

• Business process – already covered – the breakdown of any business activity into its constituent parts (order process)

• Business (process) modelling – use of graphic tools to depict what is happening in an area of business in order to gain understanding

• NOT the same as Business Model!

• Business analysis – to understand how business functions in order to improve or make changes; study the products, services, operations (how products/services are delivered to the customer, how policies, and regulations, including internal and external regulations, affect the operations, etc.)

• Business continuity – already covered – ability of a business to carry on trading/operating after a “disaster”.

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Business Process Model Chart: Example

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Service Operation Skills

• Operation Management

• Service Desk

• Problem Management

• Incident Management

• Access (Security)

Management

• Facilities Management

Similar guidance available in ISO20000, COBIT, etc

Service Operations (1)

It is the part of the lifecycle where the services and value is

actually directly delivered.

Its aim is to provide best practice for achieving the delivery of

agreed levels of services both to end-users and the customers

The main functions or processes for IT technician:

1. Operation management

2. Service desk

3. Problem management

4. Incident management

5. Security/access management

6. Facilities management

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Service Operations (2)

1. Operation management The team of people “responsible for day-to-day maintenance and management of organization’s IT infrastructure to ensure delivery of the agreed level of IT services to the business”

2. Service desk • The central point of contact between service providers and

users/customers on a day-to-day basis.

• a focal point for reporting incidents (disruptions or potential disruptions in service availability or quality) and for users making routine requests for services.

• SPOC – single point of contact

• Needed for good customer relationship,

• Importance of prioritization – must get this right!

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Service Operations (3)

3. Problem management

The process responsible for managing the lifecycle of all problems that happen or could happen in an IT service.

The primary objectives are to prevent problems and resulting incidents from happening, to eliminate recurring incidents, and to minimize the impact of incidents that cannot be prevented.

Problems can lead to incidents

Dealt with as described earlier in technical fault analysis

4. Incident management

• An event that could lead to loss of, or disruption to, an organization's operations, services or functions.

• The activities of an organization to identify, analyse, and correct hazards to prevent a future re-occurrence.

• More than just IT but security of IT systems is critical

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Service Operations (4)

5. Security/access management

• Making sure information is kept secure – access control

• Information is only accessed by authorised persons

• CIA - already discussed

• authenticity, accountability, non-repudiation and reliability.

6. Facilities management

• The efficient and effective delivery of support services for the organizations

• Can include all or some of IT functions (e.g. Printing, VLE)

• Need to understand SLA to make sure where responsibilities lie and how to escalate

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So what have we learnt?

• The needs of the Business as a whole come first

• (Big) IT needs to be managed well

• Business relies on IT - a lot!

• IT technicians need to be aware of

1. HOW IT can be managed by using concepts such as

ITIL, ITSM, COBIT etc

2. HOW IT can support other parts of the business using

the ITIL model as a guide

04/03/2020 Colchester Institute

04/03/2020 Colchester Institute