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An Introductory Overview of ITIL® 2011

An Introductory Overview
of ITIL® 2011

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 Best Management Practice
Portfolio Product

An Introductory Overview
of ITIL 2011 ®

London: TSO

379 An Introductory Overview of ITIL 2011 v0_5.indd 1 03/10/2013 10:03

 © Copyright itSMF Ltd, TSO 2012
This version first published 2012
Based on other copyright material with the
permission of the copyright owners.
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Published by TSO (The Stationery Office) AXELOS Limited.
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 Contents
Acknowledgements v
About this guide vi
1 Introduction 1
2 What is service management? 4
3 What is ITIL? 6
4 Service strategy 12
4.1 Purpose 12
4.2 Key concepts 13
4.3 Key processes and activities 17
4.4 Key roles 20
5 Service design 21
5.1 Purpose 21
5.2 Key principles 21
5.3 Key processes and activities 23
5.4 Key roles 29
6 Service transition 31
6.1 Purpose 31
6.2 Key principles 31
6.3 Key processes and activities 32
6.4 Managing people through service transitions 38
6.5 Key roles 38

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 iv  Contents  

7 Service operation 40
7.1 Purpose 40
7.2 Key processes and activities 41
7.3 Key roles 45
7.4 Key functions 46
8 Continual service improvement 50
8.1 Purpose 50
8.2 Key processes and activities 51
8.3 Key roles 56
9 Service management processes and functions 57
10 Qualifications 61
10.1 Overview 61
10.2 Foundation 61
10.3 Intermediate streams 62
10.4 Managing Across the Lifecycle 63
10.5 ITIL Expert 63
10.6 ITIL Master 63
11 Related guidance 64
12 Summary 68
Further guidance 70
Contact points 72

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 Acknowledgements

Authors
Alison Cartlidge, Steria
Colin Rudd, items
Marco Smith, iCore
Paul Wigzel, Paul Wigzel Training & Consultancy
Stuart Rance, HP
Sue Shaw, TriCentrica
Theresa Wright, Computacenter

Editors
Alison Cartlidge, Steria
Mark Lillycrop, itSMF UK
With thanks to all those who took part in the review process.

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 About this guide
ITIL® provides a framework of best-practice guidance for IT
service management, and since its creation, ITIL has grown to
become the most widely accepted approach to IT service
management in the world.
This pocket guide has been designed as an introductory overview
for anyone who has an interest in or a need to understand more
about the objectives, content and coverage of ITIL. While this
guide provides an overview, it is not designed to replace the
official guidance, details of which are provided below and in the
section headed ‘Further guidance’.
This guide describes the key principles of IT service management
and provides a high-level overview of each of the core
publications and associated lifecycle phases within ITIL:
■■ ITIL Service Strategy
■■ ITIL Service Design
■■ ITIL Service Transition
■■ ITIL Service Operation
■■ ITIL Continual Service Improvement.
An overview of the qualifications scheme is also included.
The guidance contained within this pocket guide is neither
definitive nor prescriptive, but is based on ITIL best practice. The
guidance in the ITIL publications is applicable generically and is
of benefit to all IT organizations irrespective of their size or the
technology in use. It is neither bureaucratic nor unwieldy if
utilized sensibly and in full recognition of the business needs of
the organization.

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 1 Introduction
It has become increasingly recognized that information is the
most important strategic resource that any organization has to
manage. Key to the collection, analysis, production and
distribution of information within an organization is the quality
of the IT services provided to the business. It is essential that we
recognize that IT services are crucial, strategic, organizational
assets. Therefore organizations must invest appropriate levels of
resource in the support, delivery and management of these
critical IT services and the IT systems that underpin them. However,
these aspects of IT are often overlooked or only superficially
addressed within many organizations.
Key issues facing many of today’s senior business managers and
IT managers are:
■■ Planning IT and business strategy
■■ Integrating and aligning IT and business goals
■■ Implementing continual improvement
■■ Measuring the IT organization’s effectiveness and efficiency
■■ Optimizing costs and the total cost of ownership
■■ Achieving and demonstrating return on investment
■■ Demonstrating the business value of IT
■■ Developing partnerships and relationships between
business and IT
■■ Improving project delivery success
■■ Outsourcing, insourcing and smart sourcing
■■ Using IT to gain competitive advantage
■■ Delivering the business-justified IT services (i.e. what is
required, when required and at an agreed cost)
■■ Managing constant business and IT change
■■ Demonstrating appropriate IT governance.

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 2  Introduction

The challenges for IT managers are to coordinate and work in

partnership with the business to deliver high-quality IT services.
This has to be achieved while adopting a more business- and
customer-oriented approach to the delivery of services and
cost optimization.
The primary objective of service management is to ensure that IT
services are aligned with the business needs and actively support
them. It is imperative that IT services underpin the business
processes, but it is also increasingly important that IT acts as an
agent for change to facilitate business transformation.
All organizations that use IT depend on IT to be successful. If IT
processes and IT services are implemented, managed and supported
in the appropriate way, the business will be more successful,
suffer less disruption and loss of productive hours, reduce costs,
increase revenue, improve public relations and achieve its
business objectives.
ITIL provides guidance throughout the service lifecycle to help
senior business managers and IT managers achieve the objectives
of service management and address the key issues they face in a
systematic way.
ITIL guidance is structured in five lifecycle phases. Each phase is
described in one of the core ITIL publications, and is presented in
each key chapter of this guide, as follows:
■■ Chapter 4 outlines service strategy. The achievement of
strategic goals or objectives requires the use of strategic
assets. The guidance shows how to transform service
management into a strategic asset.
■■ Chapter 5 outlines service design. The chapter contains
guidance on designing IT services, along with the governing
IT practices, processes and policies, to realize the strategy and

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 Introduction  3

facilitate the introduction of services into the live environment,

ensuring quality service delivery, customer satisfaction and
cost-effective service provision.
■■ Chapter 6 outlines service transition. It comprises guidance
for transitioning new and changed services into operation,
ensuring the requirements of service strategy, encoded in
service design, are effectively realized in service operation
while controlling the risks of failure and disruption.
■■ Chapter 7 outlines service operation. The chapter gives
guidance on achieving effectiveness and efficiency in the
delivery and support of services to ensure value for the
customer and the service provider. Strategic objectives are
ultimately realized through service operation.
■■ Chapter 8 outlines continual service improvement. It gives
guidance for creating and maintaining value for customers
through the better design, introduction and operation
of services, linking improvement efforts and outcomes
with service strategy, service design, service transition and
service operation.

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 2 What is service management?
To understand what service management is, we need to understand
what services are, and how service management can help service
providers to deliver and manage these services.

Definition: service
A means of delivering value to customers by facilitating
outcomes customers want to achieve without the ownership
of specific costs and risks.

A simple example of a customer outcome that could be facilitated

by an IT service might be: ‘Sales people spending more time
interacting with customers’ facilitated by ‘a remote access service
that enables reliable access to corporate sales systems from sales
people’s laptops’.
The outcomes that customers want to achieve are the reason
why they purchase or use the service. The value of the service to
the customer is directly dependent on how well it facilitates
these outcomes.
Service management is what enables a service provider to
understand the services it is providing, to ensure that the services
really do facilitate the outcomes its customers want to achieve,
to understand the value of the services to its customers, and to
understand and manage all of the costs and risks associated with
those services.

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 What is service management?   5

Definition: service management

A set of specialized organizational capabilities for providing
value to customers in the form of services.

These ‘specialized organizational capabilities’ are described in

this pocket guide. They include all of the processes, methods,
functions, roles and activities that a service provider uses to
enable it to deliver services to its customers.
Service management is concerned with more than just delivering
services. Each service, process or infrastructure component has a
lifecycle, and service management considers the entire lifecycle
from strategy through design and transition to operation and
continual improvement.
The inputs to service management are the resources and capabilities
that represent the assets of the service provider. The outputs are
the services that provide value to the customers.
Effective service management is itself a strategic asset of the
service provider, enabling it to carry out its core business of
providing services that deliver value to customers by facilitating
the outcomes customers want to achieve.
Adopting best practice can help a service provider to create an
effective service management system. Best practice is simply
doing things that have been shown to work and to be effective.
Best practice can come from many different sources, including
public frameworks (such as ITIL, COBIT and CMMI), standards
(such as ISO/IEC 20000 and ISO 9000), and proprietary
knowledge of people and organizations.

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 3 What is ITIL?
ITIL is a public framework that describes best practice in IT
service management. It provides a framework for the
governance of IT, and the management and control of IT
services. It focuses on the continual measurement and
improvement of the quality of IT service delivered, from both a
business and a customer perspective. This focus is a major factor
in ITIL’s worldwide success and has contributed to its prolific
usage and to the key benefits obtained by those organizations
deploying the techniques and processes throughout their
organizations. Some of these benefits include:
■■ Increased user and customer satisfaction with IT services
■■ Improved service availability, directly leading to increased
business profits and revenue
■■ Financial savings from reduced rework or lost time and from
improved resource management and usage
■■ Improved time to market for new products and services
■■ Improved decision-making and reduced risk.
ITIL was first published between 1989 and 1995 by Her Majesty’s
Stationery Office (HMSO) in the UK on behalf of the Central
Communications and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA). Its
early use was principally confined to the UK and The Netherlands.
The initial version of ITIL consisted of a library of 31 associated
books covering all aspects of IT service provision. Between 2000
and 2004 this initial version was revised and replaced by ITIL V2;
this consisted of seven more closely connected and consistent
books consolidated within an overall framework. Following a
major ‘refresh’ ITIL V3 was published in 2007, consisting of five
core publications covering the service lifecycle. In 2011, the ITIL
2011 editions were published to address feedback, improve

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 What is ITIL?   7

clarity and consistency across the five ITIL core publications, and
introduce some minor additions to stay current and meet
industry demand.
Each of the five core publications covers a stage of the service
lifecycle (see Figure 3.1), from the initial definition and analysis
of business requirements in ITIL Service Strategy and ITIL Service
Design, through migration into the live environment within ITIL
Service Transition, to live operation and improvement in ITIL
Service Operation and ITIL Continual Service Improvement.

Figure 3.1 The ITIL service lifecycle

Continual
service
improvement
Service
transition

Service
strategy

Service
design Service
operation

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 8   What is ITIL?

The core publications are, however, just the starting point for
ITIL. The core is complemented by a wide range of additional
publications and information sources, including content derived
directly from the core guidance (such as the key element guides,
Introduction to the ITIL Service Lifecycle and Passing your ITIL
Foundation Exam) and other complementary materials, including
the ITIL Foundation Handbook and the ITIL intermediate capability
handbooks (a range of pocket guides widely used by students
revising for their ITIL qualifications).
produced together with a service design package
A key principle within ITIL containing
(SDP) and across the service lifecycle stages
is alignment of IT with the business(es) it supports. Therefore, all
service solutions and delivery should be driven by business needs
and requirements, while reflecting the strategies and policies of
the service provider organization, as indicated in Figure 3.2.
Figure 3.2 illustrates how the service lifecycle is initiated from a
change in requirements in the business. These requirements are
identified and agreed within the service strategy stage within a
change proposal and service charter.
This passes to the service design stage, where a service solution is
produced together with a service design package (SDP) containing
everything necessary to take this service through the remaining
stages of the lifecycle.
The SDP passes to the service transition stage, where the service
is evaluated, tested and validated, the service knowledge
management system (SKMS) is updated, and the service is
transitioned into the live environment, where it enters the
service operation stage.
Wherever possible, continual service improvement identifies
opportunities for the improvement of weaknesses or failures
anywhere within any of the lifecycle stages, across all processes.

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 What is ITIL?   9

Figure 3.2 Integration across the service lifecycle

Requirements The business/customers

Service Change proposals

strategy and service
management system

Resources and
Service knowledge

constraints charters
Policies
Strategies

Service Service design

design packages
Standards
Solution Architectures
designs

Service Implementation
transition of transition plans
Tested SKMS updates
New/changed/ solutions
retired services

Business
Service Operational/live value
portfolio Service Achievements services
operation against targets

Service
catalogue
Continual
service
improvement CSI register, improvement
actions and plans

Definition: process
A structured set of activities designed to accomplish a specific
objective. A process takes one or more defined inputs and
turns them into defined outputs.

To undertake the processes and activities involved in each

lifecycle stage, ITIL recognizes that an organization needs to
clearly define the roles and responsibilities required. These roles
are assigned to individuals within an organization structure of
teams, groups or functions.

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 10   What is ITIL?

Definition: function
A team or group of people and the tools or other resources
they use to carry out one or more processes or activities.

There are both generic roles and specific roles involved within
any lifecycle stage or process. Key generic roles are described
below, while key specific roles are covered in the relevant
lifecycle chapters of the core ITIL publications and identified in
this pocket guide. Generic roles are thus:
■■ Process owner Accountable for ensuring that a process is fit
for purpose, i.e. that it is capable of meeting its objectives;
that it is performed according to the agreed and documented
standard; and that it meets the aims of the process definition
■■ Process manager Accountable for operational management
of a process. There may be several process managers for one
process and the process manager role is often assigned to the
same person carrying out the process owner role
■■ Process practitioner Responsible for carrying out one or
more process activities. The process practitioner role may be
combined with the process manager role, if appropriate
■■ Service owner Responsible to the customer for the initiation,
transition, and ongoing maintenance and support of a
particular service; and accountable to the IT director or
service management director for the delivery of a specific IT
service. Service ownership is critical to service management
and a single person may fulfil the service owner role for more
than one service.

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 What is ITIL?   11

Note: ‘Service manager’ can be a generic term for any manager

within the service provider, e.g. a business relationship manager,
a process manager or a senior manager with responsibility for IT
services overall.
Roles are accountable or responsible for an activity. However, as
services, processes and their component activities run through an
entire organization, each activity must be clearly mapped to
defined roles. To support this, the RACI model or ‘authority
matrix’ can be used to define the roles and responsibilities in
relation to processes and activities.

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 4 Service strategy

4.1 Purpose
Strategic thinking aims to define a plan that, using a clear set
of principles, will provide a solution to a business problem
in a particular situation. It is focused on the value to the
customer and identifies strategic assets that will be used for
competitive advantage.
Achieving an understanding of customer needs, in terms of what
these needs are, and when and why they occur, also requires a
clear understanding of exactly who is an existing or potential
customer of that service provider. Value is defined by the customer
and the value of a service is determined by what it enables the
customer to do. Creating value also depends on customer
perceptions and preferences.
A service strategy cannot be created or exist in isolation of the
overarching strategy and culture of the service provider’s own
organization. The service provider may exist within an organization
solely to deliver service to one specific business unit, or to service
multiple business units, or may operate as an external service
provider serving multiple external businesses. The strategy
adopted must fulfil the service provider’s strategic purpose.
Irrespective of the context in which the service provider operates,
its service strategy must also be based upon a clear recognition of
the existence of competition, awareness that each side has choices,
and a view of how that service provider will differentiate itself
from the competition. All service providers need a service strategy.

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 Service strategy   13

ITIL Service Strategy sits at the core of the ITIL lifecycle. It sets out
guidance to all IT service providers and their customers, to help
them operate and thrive in the long term by building a clear
service strategy, with a precise understanding of:
■■ What services should be offered
■■ To whom the services should be offered
■■ How the internal and external marketplaces for their services
should be developed
■■ The existing and potential competition in these marketplaces,
and the objectives that will differentiate the value of what
the service provider does or how it is provided
■■ How the customer(s) and stakeholders will perceive and
measure value, and how this value will be created
■■ How service sourcing decisions can be made with respect to
use of different types of service providers
■■ How visibility and control over value creation will be achieved
through financial management
■■ How robust business cases will be created to secure strategic
investment in service assets and service management capabilities
■■ How the allocation of available resources will be tuned to
optimal effect across the portfolio of services
■■ How service performance will be measured.

4.2 Key concepts

ITIL Service Strategy defines some key ITIL concepts.

4.2.1 The four Ps of strategy

■■ Perspective The distinctive vision and direction
■■ Position The basis on which the provider will compete
■■ Plan How the provider will achieve its vision

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 14   Service strategy

■■ Pattern The fundamental way of doing things – distinctive

patterns in decisions and actions over time.

4.2.2 Define services

All service providers need to:
■■ Define the market that they will operate in, identifying and
understanding their customers
■■ Explore the opportunities and constraints, quantify the
outcomes and classify services.
All service providers and customers operate in one or more
internal or external market spaces and seek to align delivery with
customer expectations.

4.2.3 Service value

This is defined in terms of the customers’ perceived business
outcomes and described in terms of the combination of
two components:
■■ Service utility What the customer gets in terms of outcomes
supported and/or constraints removed
■■ Service warranty How the service is delivered and its fitness for
use, in terms of availability, capacity, continuity and security.
Service value also includes the associated concepts of services as
assets, value networks, value creation and value capture.

4.2.4 Service provider types

■■ Type I Exists within an organization solely to deliver service
to one specific business unit
■■ Type II Services multiple business units in the same organization
■■ Type III Operates as an external service provider serving
multiple external customers.

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 Service strategy   15

4.2.5 Service management as a strategic asset

ITIL is used to transform service management capabilities into
strategic assets, by using service management to provide the
basis for core competency, distinctive performance and durable
advantage, and to increase the service provider’s potential
from its:
■■ Capabilities The provider’s ability (in terms of management,
organization, processes, knowledge and people) to
coordinate, control and deploy resources
■■ Resources The direct inputs for the production of services,
e.g. financial, capital, infrastructure, applications,
information and people.

4.2.6 Critical success factors

Critical success factors (CSFs) are identified, measured and
reviewed periodically in order to determine the service assets
required to successfully implement the desired service strategy.

4.2.7 Service economics

Financial management, demand management and the service
portfolio are used to understand the balance between the cost
of providing the service, the value of the outcome achieved and
the return on investment.

4.2.8 Service delivery strategies

The various models that may be selected by customers or used
by service providers to source and deliver services, and the
financial management impacts of sourcing variants, are
categorized and analysed:

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 16   Service strategy

■■ Insource, outsource and co-source Delivery of some or all of

the service lifecycle is provided by internal resources, external
resources or a combination of both
■■ Business process outsource and knowledge process outsource
Strategic provisioning of business services based on process or
knowledge expertise
■■ On-demand or cloud-based Services are provided on the
basis of how much is required by each customer, how often,
and at the times the customer needs them.

4.2.9 Organization design and development

The service provider’s organization needs to achieve an ongoing
shape and structure that enables the service strategy.
Considerations include:
■■ Organizational development stages Delivering services
through network direction, delegation, coordination or
collaboration, depending on the evolutionary state of
the organization
■■ Sourcing strategy Making informed decisions on service
sourcing in terms of internal services, shared services, full
service outsourcing, prime consortium or selective outsourcing
■■ Service analytics Using technology to help achieve an
understanding of the performance of a service through analysis
■■ Service interfaces The mechanisms by which users and other
processes interact with each service
■■ Risk management Mapping and managing the portfolio of
risks underlying a service portfolio.

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 Service strategy   17

4.3 Key processes and activities

4.3.1 Strategy management for IT services

Strategy management for IT services produces and maintains
all strategy plans and ensures they are translated into tactical
and operational plans. It also takes into account any changes in
the business environment to ensure the service strategy
remains relevant.
The purpose of a service strategy is to articulate how a service
provider will enable an organization to achieve its business
outcomes and the most effective and efficient way to manage
these services. The purpose of the strategy management for
IT services process is to ensure that the strategy is defined and
achieves its purpose.

4.3.2 Service portfolio management

The purpose of service portfolio management is to ensure that
the service provider has the right mix of services to balance the
investment in IT with the ability to meet business outcomes.

Definition: service portfolio

The complete set of services that is managed by a service
provider. The service portfolio is used to manage the entire
lifecycle of all services, and includes three categories: service
pipeline (proposed or in development), service catalogue (live
or available for deployment), and retired services.

Service portfolio management involves proactive management

of the investment across the service lifecycle.

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 18   Service strategy

It is an ongoing process, which includes the following steps:

■■ Define Make an inventory of services, ensure business cases
exist, and validate portfolio data
■■ Analyse Maximize portfolio value, align and prioritize, and
balance supply and demand
■■ Approve Finalize proposed portfolio, and authorize services
and resources
■■ Charter Communicate decisions, allocate resources and
charter services.

4.3.3 Financial management for IT services

Financial management covers the function and processes
responsible for managing an IT service provider’s budgeting,
accounting and charging requirements. It provides the business
and IT with the quantification, in financial terms, of the value of
IT services, the value of the assets underlying the provisioning of
those services, and the qualification of operational forecasting.
The purpose of financial management for IT services is to secure
the appropriate level of funding to design, develop and deliver
services that meet the strategy of the organization.
IT financial management responsibilities and activities do not
exist solely within the IT finance and accounting domain. Many
parts of the organization interact to generate and use IT financial
information, by aggregating, sharing and maintaining the
financial data they need, and by enabling the dissemination of
information to feed critical decisions and activities.

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 Service strategy   19

4.3.4 Demand management

Demand management is a critical aspect of service management.
Poorly managed demand is a source of risk for service providers
because of uncertainty in demand. Excess capacity generates cost
without creating value that provides a basis for cost recovery.
The purpose of demand management is to understand and
influence customer demand for services and the provision of
capacity to meet those demands. At a strategic level this can
involve analysis of patterns of business activity and user profiles.
At a tactical level it can involve use of differential charging to
encourage customers to use IT services at less busy times.
A service level package defines the level of utility and warranty
for a service package and is designed to meet the needs of a
pattern of business activity.

4.3.5 Business relationship management

The purpose of the business relationship management process
is twofold:
■■ Establishing and maintaining a business relationship between the
service provider and the customer based on understanding
the customer and its business needs
■■ Identifying customer needs and ensuring that the service
provider is able to meet those needs as business needs change.
Business relationship management enables effective links
between service providers and customers at both strategic and
tactical levels. Working closely with the demand management
and service portfolio management processes, it ensures the
service provider understands the business requirements and
keeps a focus on customer satisfaction. This also includes formal
complaint and escalation procedures.

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 20   Service strategy

4.4 Key roles

The key specific roles within the service strategy activities and
processes include:
■■ IT strategy manager Formulates and communicates the IT
strategy and ensures elements are in place for successful
execution
■■ IT steering group Responsible for corporate governance of
IT and the overall direction of the IT strategy
■■ IT director/service management director Responsible for all
IT service management processes and for setting up the
service management office
■■ Service portfolio manager Defines services and service
packages; manages and maintains the service portfolio
including communication to all parties
■■ Business relationship manager Maintains the relationship
with one or more customers, understanding the customer’s
business and its customer outcomes; this role may be
combined with the role of service level manager
■■ Customer/user Articulates needs and ensures business
outcomes are supported
■■ Financial manager Defines and maintains financial models
with information to track the cost and value of IT services
■■ Demand manager Identifies and documents patterns of
business activity and user profiles; ensures IT capabilities are
geared to meet fluctuating demand
■■ Chief sourcing officer Owns the sourcing strategy within the
organization; responsible for leading and directing the
sourcing office; develops the sourcing strategy in close
conjunction with the Chief Information Officer (CIO).

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5 Service design

5.1 Purpose
The purpose of service design is to ensure that new or changed
services are designed to meet the changing requirements of the
business. Service design is the stage in the lifecycle that turns a
new requirement from service strategy into a design to realize
business objectives.
Key activities within this stage of the lifecycle include the planning
and coordination of design activities, ensuring consistent designs
of services, service management information systems, architectures,
technology, processes, information and metrics, production of
service design packages (SDPs), management of interfaces, and
improvement of service design activities and processes.
ITIL Service Design provides:
■■ Guidance for the design and development of services and
service management practices
■■ Design principles and methods for converting strategic
objectives into a portfolio of services and service assets.

5.2 Key principles

Service design starts with a set of business requirements, and
ends with the development of a service solution designed to
meet documented business requirements and outcomes, and its
SDP for handover into service transition.

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 22   Service design

At its heart, service design involves a delicate balancing act across

functionality requirements (service utility), performance
requirements (service warranty), resource availability and
timescales. Good service design must balance all of the above to
ensure an effective end result.

5.2.1 Five aspects of service design

■■ Service solutions for new or changed services
■■ Management information systems and tools
■■ Technology and management architectures
■■ Processes
■■ Measurement methods and metrics.
A holistic approach should be adopted in service design to ensure
consistency and integration in all IT activities and processes,
providing end-to-end business-related functionality and quality.

5.2.2 The four Ps of design

Good service design is dependent upon the effective and
efficient use of the four Ps of design:
■■ People The people, skills and competencies involved in the
provision of IT services
■■ Products The technology and management systems used in
the delivery of IT services
■■ Processes The processes, roles and activities involved in the
provision of IT services
■■ Partners The vendors, manufacturers and suppliers used to
assist and support IT service provision.

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 Service design   23

5.2.3 Service design package

The service design package defines all aspects of an IT service
and its requirements through each stage of its lifecycle. An SDP
is produced for each new IT service, major change, or IT
service retirement.

5.3 Key processes and activities

5.3.1 Design coordination

The purpose of design coordination is to ensure the goals and
objectives of the design stage are met. It provides a single point of
coordination and control for all design activities and processes.
Design coordination activities fall into two categories:
■■ Activities relating to the overall service design lifecycle
stage, which may be performed by design coordination
process manager(s)
■■ Activities relating to each individual design, which may be
performed by a project manager or other individual with
direct responsibility for the project or change, with assistance
and guidance from the design coordination process manager.

5.3.2 Service catalogue management

The service catalogue provides a central source of information
on the IT services delivered to the business by the service
provider organization, ensuring that business areas can view
an accurate, consistent picture of the IT services available, their
details and status.

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 24   Service design

The purpose of service catalogue management (SCM) is to

provide a single, consistent source of information on all of the
agreed services, and ensure that it is widely available to those
who are authorized to access it.
It is recommended that a service provider defines multiple views
of the service catalogue. The two most common views are:
■■ Business/customer service catalogue view Contains details
of the IT services delivered to the customers (customer-facing
services), links to the business units and the business
processes they support and provides the customer view of the
service catalogue
■■ Technical/supporting service catalogue view Contains details
of the supporting IT services delivered and links to the
customer-facing services, configuration items (CIs) and other
supporting services necessary for the delivery of services.
The key information within the SCM process is that contained
within the service catalogue. The main input for this information
comes from the service portfolio and the business via either the
business relationship management or the service level
management processes.

5.3.3 Service level management

Service level management (SLM) negotiates, agrees and documents
appropriate IT service targets with the business in service level
agreements (SLAs) and then monitors and produces reports on
delivery against the agreed level of service.

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 Service design   25

Definition: service level agreement

An agreement between an IT service provider and a customer.
A service level agreement describes the IT service, documents
service level targets, and specifies the responsibilities of the
IT service provider and the customer. A single agreement may
cover multiple IT services or multiple customers.

The purpose of the SLM process is to ensure that all operational

services and their performance are measured in a consistent,
professional manner throughout the IT organization, and that
the services and the reports produced meet the needs of the
business and customers.
The main information provided by the SLM process includes
SLAs, operational level agreements (OLAs) and other support
agreements, and the production of a service improvement plan
and service quality plan.

5.3.4 Availability management

The purpose of availability management is to provide a point of
focus and management for all availability-related issues that
apply to services, components and resources, ensuring that
availability targets in all areas are measured and achieved, and
that they match or exceed the current and future agreed needs
of the business in a cost-effective manner.
Availability management takes place at two interconnected
levels, namely service availability and component availability, and
aims to continually optimize and proactively improve the
availability of IT services and their supporting organization.
There are two key aspects:

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 26   Service design

■■ Reactive activities Monitoring, measuring, analysis and

management of events, incidents and problems involving
service unavailability
■■ Proactive activities Proactive planning, design,
recommendation and improvement of availability.
Availability management activities consider the availability,
reliability, maintainability and serviceability at both service
and component level, particularly those supporting vital
business functions.
The availability management process is based around an
availability management information system that contains all of
the measurements and information that are required to support
availability activities, produce an availability plan and provide
appropriate information to the business on service levels.

5.3.5 Capacity management

Capacity management includes business, service and component
capacity management across the service lifecycle. A key success
factor in managing capacity is ensuring that it is considered
during the design stage.
The purpose of capacity management is to provide a point of
focus and management for all capacity and performance-related
issues, relating to both services and components, and to match
the capacity of IT to the agreed business demands.
The capacity management information system (CMIS) is the
cornerstone of a successful capacity management process.
Information contained within the CMIS is stored and analysed by all
the sub-processes of capacity management for the provision of
technical and management reports, including the capacity plan.

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 Service design   27

5.3.6 IT service continuity management

As technology is a core component of most business processes,
continuous or high availability of IT is critical to the survival of
the business as a whole. This is achieved by introducing risk
reduction measures and recovery options. Ongoing maintenance
of the recovery capability is essential if it is to remain effective.
The purpose of IT service continuity management (ITSCM) is to
maintain the appropriate ongoing recovery capability within IT
services to match the agreed needs, requirements and timescales
of the business.
ITSCM includes a series of activities throughout the lifecycle to
ensure that, once service continuity and recovery plans have
been developed, they are kept aligned with business continuity
plans and business priorities.
The maintenance of appropriate ITSCM policy strategies and
ITSCM plans aligned with business plans is key to the success of
an ITSCM process. This can be accomplished by the regular completion
of business impact analysis and risk management exercises.

5.3.7 Information security management

Information security management (ISM) needs to be considered
within the overall corporate governance framework. Corporate
governance is the set of responsibilities and practices exercised
by the board and executive management with the fourfold goal
of providing strategic direction, ensuring that the objectives are
achieved, ascertaining that the risks are being managed
appropriately, and verifying that the enterprise’s resources are
used effectively.

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 28   Service design

The purpose of the ISM process is to align IT security with business

security and ensure that information security is effectively
managed in all service and service management activities,
such that:
■■ Information is available and usable when required – availability
■■ Information is observed by or disclosed to only those who
have a right to know – confidentiality
■■ Information is complete, accurate and protected against
unauthorized modification – integrity
■■ Business transactions, as well as information exchanges, can
be trusted – authenticity and non-repudiation.
ISM maintains and enforces an overall policy, together with a set of
supporting controls within an integrated security management
information system, aligned with business security policies
and strategies.

5.3.8 Supplier management

The supplier management process ensures that suppliers and the
services they provide are managed to support IT service targets
and business expectations.
The purpose of the supplier management process is to obtain
value for money from suppliers and to ensure that suppliers
perform to the targets contained within their contracts and
agreements, while conforming to all of the terms and conditions.
The process categorizes suppliers and contracts in terms of value,
importance, risk and impact, and manages them according to
their criticality to the overall delivery of IT services.

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 Service design   29

The supplier and contract management information system is a

vital source of information on suppliers and contracts. The system
should contain all of the information necessary for the management
of suppliers, contracts and their associated services.

5.3.9 Key service design stage activities

■■ Business requirements collection, requirements analysis and
engineering to ensure they are clearly documented
■■ Design and development of appropriate service solutions,
technology, processes, information and measurements
■■ Production and revision of all design processes and
documents involved in service design
■■ Liaison with all other design and planning activities and roles
■■ Production and maintenance of policies and design documents
■■ Risk management of all services and design processes
■■ Alignment with all corporate and IT strategies and policies.

5.4 Key roles

The key specific roles within the service design activities and
processes include:
■■ Design coordination process manager Responsible for the
overall planning, management and coordination of service
design activities for new or changed services
■■ SCM process manager Responsible for producing and
maintaining an accurate service catalogue
■■ SLM process manager Responsible for ensuring that the
service quality levels are agreed and met
■■ Availability management process manager Responsible for
ensuring that all services meet their agreed availability targets

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 30   Service design

■■ Capacity management process manager Responsible for

ensuring that IT capacity is matched to agreed current and
future business demands
■■ ITSCM process manager Responsible for ensuring that all
services can be recovered in line with their agreed business
needs, requirements and timescales
■■ Security management process manager Responsible for
ensuring that IT security is aligned with agreed business
security policy risks, impacts and requirements
■■ Supplier management process manager Responsible for
ensuring that value for money is obtained from all IT suppliers
and contracts, and that underpinning contracts and agreements
are aligned with the needs of the business
■■ IT planner Responsible for the production and coordination
of IT plans
■■ IT designer/architect Responsible for the overall design of
the required technologies, architectures, managements
systems and designs.

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 6 Service transition

6.1 Purpose
The purpose of service transition is to ensure that new, modified
or retired services meet the expectations of the business as
documented in the service strategy and service design stages of
the service lifecycle. Key activities during this stage of the service
lifecycle include planning and managing changes and releases,
managing risks, transferring knowledge, setting expectations
and ensuring that the expected business value is delivered.
Service transition focuses on implementing all aspects of the service,
ensuring that the new or changed service meets customer
expectations and can be managed by the service provider. This
requires sufficient understanding of:
■■ Potential business value, who it is delivered to and judged by
■■ Identification of all stakeholders within supplier, customer
and other areas
■■ Implementation and adaptation of the service design,
including arranging for modification of the design, where the
need is detected during transition.

6.2 Key principles

Service transition is supported by underlying principles that
facilitate effective and efficient use of new or changed services.
Key principles include:
■■ Understanding all services, their utilities, their warranties,
and the outcomes they support
■■ Managing the complexity associated with changes to services,
technology and processes

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 32   Service transition

■■ Establishing a formal policy and common framework for

implementation of changes, to ensure that all required
activities are carried out and all relevant risks are considered
■■ Supporting knowledge transfer, decision support and reuse
of processes, systems and other elements. Effective service
transition is delivered by involving all relevant parties,
ensuring appropriate knowledge is available and that work is
reusable in future similar circumstances
■■ Anticipating and managing ‘course corrections’ by being
proactive and determining their likely course and timing
■■ Ensuring involvement of service transition personnel and an
understanding of service transition requirements throughout
the service lifecycle.

6.3 Key processes and activities

The processes described in ITIL Service Transition can be
categorized into two groups, based on the extent to which
process activities take place during the service transition stage
of the service lifecycle.
Some processes are critical during the service transition stage,
but influence and support all stages of the service lifecycle:
■■ Change management
■■ Service asset and configuration management
■■ Knowledge management.
Other processes are strongly focused within the service transition
stage of the service lifecycle:
■■ Transition planning and support
■■ Release and deployment management
■■ Service validation and testing
■■ Change evaluation.

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 Service transition   33

6.3.1 Transition planning and support

The purpose of transition planning and support is to provide
overall planning for service transitions and to coordinate the
resources they require.
Transition planning and support has two main areas of activity:
■■ Planning and coordinating the resources and capabilities
needed to enable the smooth operation of the service
transition stage
■■ Planning and coordinating individual service transitions, to
ensure that they deliver the expected business benefits.
Effective transition planning and support can significantly
improve a service provider’s ability to handle high volumes of
change and releases across its customer base.

6.3.2 Change management

The purpose of the change management process is to control the
lifecycle of all changes, enabling beneficial changes to be made
with minimum disruption to IT services.

Definition: change
The addition, modification or removal of anything that could
have an effect on IT services. The scope should include changes
to all architectures, processes, tools, metrics and documentation,
as well as changes to IT services and other configuration items.

Change management ensures that changes are recorded and

evaluated, and that authorized changes are prioritized,
planned, tested, implemented, documented and reviewed in
a controlled manner.

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 34   Service transition

Change management is relevant across the whole service

lifecycle, applying to all levels of service management – strategic,
tactical and operational (see Figure 6.1).

Figure 6.1 Scope of change and release management for services

Business Service provider Supplier

Manage the
Strategic Manage the
Manage IT services supplier’s
change business
business

Manage the Manage

Tactical Service
business external
change portfolio
processes services

Service
change

Manage
Operational Service External
business
change operations operations
operations

Change management protects the business and other services

while enabling required changes to be made promptly to meet
business timescales. It also helps the business to meet governance,
legal, contractual and regulatory requirements.

6.3.3 Service asset and configuration management

The purpose of service asset and configuration management
(SACM) is to ensure that the assets required to deliver services are
properly controlled, and that accurate and reliable information

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 Service transition   35

about those assets is available when and where it is needed. This

information includes details of how the assets have been configured
and the relationships between assets.

Definition: configuration item

Any component or other service asset that needs to be managed
in order to deliver an IT service.

SACM supports the business by providing the information needed

to manage all CIs across the whole of the service lifecycle. This
contributes to the success of all service management processes,
as well as providing IT management and the business with the
information needed to get maximum value from service assets.
The scope of SACM may extend to non-IT assets and to internal
and external service providers, where shared assets need to
be controlled.
To manage large and complex IT services and infrastructures,
SACM requires the use of a supporting system known as the
configuration management system.

6.3.4 Release and deployment management

The purpose of the release and deployment management
process is to plan, schedule and control the building, testing and
deployment of releases, and to deliver new functionality
required by the business while protecting the integrity of
existing services.

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 36   Service transition

Definition: release
One or more changes to an IT service that are built, tested
and deployed together. A single release may include changes
to hardware, software, documentation, processes and other
components.

Effective release and deployment delivers significant business

value by delivering changes at optimized speed, risk and cost,
and offering a consistent, appropriate and auditable
implementation of usable and useful services.
Release and deployment management covers the whole build,
test and implementation of new or changed services, from
planning through to early life support.

6.3.5 Service validation and testing

The purpose of the service validation and testing process is to
ensure that a new or changed IT service matches its design
specification and will meet the needs of the business.
Service validation and testing provides confidence that the
release will deliver the expected outcomes and value for
customers, within the projected costs, capacity and constraints.
The service is tested explicitly against the utilities and warranties
set out in the service design package to ensure that it will be
both fit for purpose and fit for use. This includes testing of
functionality, availability, continuity, capacity, security and
usability. Testing also ensures that the service can be operated
and managed by the service provider.

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 Service transition   37

6.3.6 Change evaluation

The purpose of the change evaluation process is to provide a formal,
standardized means of determining the performance of a service
change in the context of likely impacts on business outcomes,
and on existing and proposed services and IT infrastructure.
Change evaluation assesses the actual performance of a change
against its predicted performance, and identifies risks and issues
related to the change.
Change evaluation is closely linked to change management. The
main output of change evaluation is an evaluation report which
is used to help change management personnel decide whether
to authorize a change. Formal change evaluation is not required
for all changes, and each service provider defines when this
formal process should be used and when the evaluation can be
carried out as part of change management.

6.3.7 Knowledge management

The purpose of knowledge management is: to share perspectives,
ideas, experience and information; to ensure that these are
available in the right place at the right time to enable informed
decisions; and to improve efficiency by reducing the need to
rediscover knowledge.
At the heart of knowledge management is the Data-to-
Information-to-Knowledge-to-Wisdom (DIKW) structure,
condensing raw – and unusable – data into valuable assets.
Knowledge management defines the architecture for a service
knowledge management system which describes four layers:
■■ Data Discovery, collection and audit of data
■■ Information integration Mapping, reconciliation
and transformation

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 38   Service transition

■■ Knowledge processing Query, analysis, reporting,

monitoring, modelling and alerting
■■ Presentation Searching, browsing, publishing and
collaboration.

6.4 Managing people through

service transitions
Service transition is not just about technology and processes.
Effective service transition enables the service provider, and its
customer, to use and operate new and changed services to create
value. This requires the service provider to develop capabilities in:
■■ Communications
■■ Managing organizational and stakeholder change.

6.5 Key roles

The staff delivering service transition within an organization
must be organized for effectiveness and efficiency. The skills and
knowledge of these staff are needed during all stages of the
service lifecycle, to ensure that new and changed services are
able to deliver the outcomes and value defined in the service
strategy stage.
The key specific roles within the service transition activities and
processes include:
■■ Transition planning and support process manager
Responsible for coordinating service transition activities
across projects, suppliers and service teams, ensuring that the
final delivery of each service transition meets the agreed
customer and stakeholder requirements specified in the
service design package – many organizations have ‘service

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 Service transition   39

transition managers’ who combine the transition planning

and support process owner and transition planning and
support process manager roles
■■ Change management process manager Responsible for
ensuring the control of all changes made to the IT service
throughout the lifecycle of the change
■■ Change authority Responsible for reviewing and formally
authorizing changes at agreed points in the change lifecycle
■■ SACM process manager Accountable for the management of
fixed assets under the control of IT; and responsible for ensuring
that the assets required to deliver services are properly
controlled, and that accurate and reliable information about
those assets is available
■■ Release and deployment management process manager
Responsible for planning, scheduling and controlling the
building, testing and deployment of releases to deliver new
functionality while protecting the integrity of existing services
■■ Service validation and testing process manager Responsible
for ensuring that a new or changed IT service matches its
design specification and will meet the needs of the business
■■ Change evaluation process manager Responsible for
providing a standardized means of determining the
performance of a service change to support decision-making
■■ Knowledge management process manager Responsible for
ensuring that knowledge is shared and available to enable
informed decisions and improve efficiency.

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7 Service operation

7.1 Purpose
The purpose of service operation is to deliver agreed levels of
service to users and customers, and to manage the applications,
technology and infrastructure that support delivery of the services.
It is only during this stage of the lifecycle that services actually
deliver value to the business. Service strategy defines the value,
service design designs the services to deliver that value, service
transition brings that design to a live service, and then it is the
responsibility of service operation staff to ensure that the
service, and thus value, is delivered.
Service operation is the phase of the lifecycle that deals almost
exclusively with users. For the vast majority of users of the IT
service, service operation is IT.
Service operation is also the only phase within the service
lifecycle that has functions defined within it. There are four such
functions: service desk, technical management, application
management and IT operations management. While these
functions actively support the other phases of the lifecycle, they
reside within service operation.

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 Service operation   41

7.2 Key processes and activities

7.2.1 Event management

Effective service operation depends upon knowing the status of
the infrastructure and the components within. Event management
does exactly this. An event may indicate that something is
functioning incorrectly, potentially leading to an incident log
being raised. Events may also indicate that a normal activity, or
routine intervention, has occurred or is necessary.
The purpose of event management is to manage events throughout
their lifecycle, from detection through to determining the
appropriate control action.
Monitoring and event management are closely related but slightly
different in nature. Event management focuses on generating
and detecting meaningful notifications about the status of the
IT infrastructure and services. Monitoring simply watches the IT
infrastructure and services, reporting on its status whether
meaningful or not.
Events may be detected by a configuration item (CI) itself, or by a
management tool polling the CI. Any event detected may lead to
an action being taken; the event could be acknowledged, may
trigger an action or may lead to an incident, problem or change
record being created. Responses to events may be automated or
may require manual intervention.
There are three types of event: informational, warning
and exception.

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 42   Service operation

7.2.2 Incident management

Definition: incident
An unplanned interruption to an IT service, or a reduction in
the quality of an IT service. Failure of a configuration item
that has not yet impacted service is also an incident.

The purpose of incident management is to restore normal service

as quickly as possible and to minimize the adverse impact on
business operations. ‘Normal’ service is the level of service
agreed and defined within the SLAs and OLAs.
Incidents are often detected by event management, or by users
contacting the service desk. Incidents are categorized to identify
who should work on them and for trend analysis, and they are
prioritized according to urgency and business impact.
If an incident cannot be resolved quickly, it is escalated. Functional
escalation passes the incident to a technical support team with
appropriate skills; hierarchical escalation engages appropriate
levels of management.
Once the incident has been resolved from a technical perspective,
the service desk ensures that the user is satisfied and working as
‘normal’ before the incident is closed.
An incident management tool is imperative for efficient, effective
and constantly improving the incident management process.

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 Service operation   43

7.2.3 Request fulfilment

Definition: service request

A formal request from a user for something to be provided.

The purpose of request fulfilment is to enable users to request and

receive standard services, to source and deliver these services, to
provide information to users and customers about services, and
to assist with general information, complaints and comments.
Their scale and frequent low-risk nature requires this separate
process rather than potentially congesting the normal incident
and change management processes.
All requests are logged and tracked, usually via the service desk,
and may necessitate an appropriate level of authorization
before fulfilment.

7.2.4 Problem management

Definition: problem
A cause of one or more incidents.

Definition: known error

A problem that has a documented root cause and a workaround.

Definition: workaround
Reducing or eliminating the impact of an incident or problem
for which a full resolution is not yet available.

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 44   Service operation

The purpose of problem management is to manage the lifecycle of

all problems, from first identification through investigation and
documentation to eventual removal. Problem management seeks
to minimize the adverse impacts of incidents and problems and to
proactively prevent any recurrence of such incidents. Ultimately
it is about seeking the root cause of incidents and problems and
initiating actions to rectify or improve the situation.
Problems are categorized in a similar way to incidents, but the
goal is to understand causes, document workarounds and
request changes that permanently resolve the problems.
Workarounds are documented in a known error database.

7.2.5 Access management

The purpose of the access management process is to provide the
rights for users to be able to access a service or group of services,
while preventing access to non-authorized users.
Access management helps to manage confidentiality, availability
and integrity of data and intellectual property. It is the user-
facing process that underpins information security management.
Access management is concerned with identity (unique
information that distinguishes an individual) and rights (settings
that provide access to data and services). The process includes
verifying identity and entitlement, granting access to services,
logging and tracking access, and removing or modifying rights
when status or roles change.

7.2.6 Common service operation activities

Service operation includes a number of activities that are not
part of the five processes described. These include:

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 Service operation   45

■■ Monitoring and control to detect the status of services and

CIs and take appropriate corrective action
■■ Console management/operations bridge; a central
coordination point for monitoring and managing services
■■ Management of the infrastructure, including storage,
databases, middleware, directory services, facilities/data centre
■■ Management of the applications delivering the services
to customers
■■ Operational aspects of processes from other lifecycle stages
■■ Communications to users, customers, IT teams, service
level managers, business relationship managers and
other management.
The majority of these activities are delivered using the functional
units within the ITIL framework.

7.3 Key roles

The key specific roles within the service operation activities and
processes include:
■■ Incident management process manager Responsible for
ensuring that normal service is restored as quickly as possible,
minimizing the adverse impact on business operations, after
identification of an incident
■■ Problem management process manager Responsible for
managing problems, from identification through
investigation and documentation to eventual removal,
seeking to minimize the adverse impacts of incidents and
problems and to proactively prevent recurrence of incidents
■■ Request fulfilment process manager Responsible for ensuring
that service requests are fulfilled within service level targets

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 46   Service operation

■■ Event management process manager Responsible for

ensuring that events are appropriately managed and
communicated
■■ Access management process manager Responsible for
ensuring that access rights are efficiently managed in line
with policies.

7.4 Key functions

7.4.1 Service desk

The service desk provides a single point of contact for all users of IT.
The service desk usually logs and manages all incidents, service
requests and access requests and provides a user interface for all
other service operation processes and activities.
The service desk is the ‘shop window’ to IT for users; it is where
the vast majority of users get their first impression of the IT
service provider.
Specific service desk responsibilities include:
■■ Logging, escalating and closing incidents
■■ Logging requests and answering questions
■■ Keeping users informed of the status of services, incidents
and requests
■■ Managing the lifecycle of incidents and requests, escalating
as appropriate and closing them when the user is satisfied.
There are many ways of structuring and organizing service desks;
ITIL suggests the use (or combination of) four types:
■■ Local service desk Physically close to the users
■■ Centralized service desk One physical location
■■ Virtual service desk Staff are in many locations but appear to
the users to be a single team

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 Service operation   47

■■ Follow-the-sun Service desks in different time zones give

24-hour coverage by passing calls to a location where staff
are working.
Virtual and follow-the-sun service desks rely on technology to
enable the routing of calls, mails and requests to enable the
successful running of those types of desk.

7.4.2 Technical management

Technical management refers to groups, departments or teams
that are the custodians of the technical expertise and overall
management of the IT infrastructure.
Technical management helps to plan, implement and maintain a
stable technical infrastructure and ensures that required
resources and expertise are in place to design, build, transition,
operate and improve the IT services and supporting technology.
Activities carried out by technical management include:
■■ Identifying knowledge and expertise requirements
■■ Documenting the skills that need development, skills
inventories and training needs analysis
■■ Defining the standards to be used in the design of new
architectures, and participation in the definition of
technology architectures
■■ Participating in the design and development of new services.
Technical management usually consists of specialist technical
architects and designers (primarily involved in service design)
and specialist maintenance and support staff (primarily involved
during service operation).

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 48   Service operation

7.4.3 Application management

Application management is responsible for managing applications
throughout their lifecycle. They are the custodians of the technical
knowledge and expertise pertaining to the applications. They
work alongside technical management providing the knowledge
to resources supporting the IT services.
It is common in many organizations to refer to applications as
services, but applications are just one component needed to
provide a service. Each application may support more than one
service, and each service may make use of many applications.
This is especially true for modern service providers who create
shared services based on service-oriented architectures.
Application management works closely with application
development but is a distinct function with a different role.
Activities carried out by application management are the same
or similar to those described for technical management but with
an application bias.

7.4.4 IT operations management

IT operations management is the term used to mean the
department, group or team of people responsible for performing
the organization’s day-to-day operational activities.
The role of IT operations management is to execute the ongoing
activities and procedures required to manage and maintain the
IT infrastructure to deliver and support the IT services at the
agreed levels.

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 Service operation   49

IT operations management includes two sub-functions:

■■ IT operation control is usually staffed by shifts of operators
who carry out routine operational tasks. They provide
centralized monitoring and control of the operational
activities and events in the IT infrastructure, usually from an
operations bridge or network operations centre.
■■ Facilities management is responsible for management of the
physical IT environment, typically data centres, computer
rooms and recovery sites. Facilities management may also
coordinate large-scale projects, such as data centre
consolidation or server consolidation.

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 8 Continual service improvement

8.1 Purpose
Continual service improvement (CSI) is concerned with maintaining
value for customers through the continual evaluation and
improvement of the quality of services and the overall maturity
of the ITSM service lifecycle and underlying processes.
CSI combines principles, practices and methods from quality
management, change management and capability improvement,
working to improve each stage in the service lifecycle, as well as the
current services, processes, and related activities and technology.
CSI is not a new concept but often the concept has not moved
beyond the discussion stage. For many organizations, CSI becomes
a project when something has failed and severely impacted the
business. When the issue is resolved the concept is promptly
forgotten until the next major failure occurs. Discrete time-
bound projects are still required but, to be successful, CSI must
be embedded within the organizational culture and become a
routine activity.
The CSI approach shown in Figure 8.1 provides a way for an
organization to identify and manage appropriate improvements
by contrasting its current position, and the value it is providing to
the business, with its long-term goals and objectives, identifying
any gaps that exist. This is done on a continual basis to address
changes in business requirements and technology to ensure
ongoing alignment and improvement of IT services.

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 Continual service improvement   51

Figure 8.1 The continual service improvement approach

Business vision,
What is the vision? mission, goals and
objectives

Baseline
Where are we now?
assessments

How do we keep the Where do we want Measurable

momentum going? to be? targets

Service and process

How do we get there?
improvement

Measurements and
Did we get there? metrics

8.2 Key processes and activities

CSI defines three key areas for the effective implementation of
continual improvement: the seven-step improvement process,
service measurement and service reporting.

8.2.1 Seven-step improvement process

The purpose of the seven-step improvement process (see Figure 8.2)
is to define and manage the steps needed to identify, define and
gather meaningful data; analyse this data to identify trends and
issues; present the information to management for their
prioritization and agreement; and implement improvements.

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 52   Continual service improvement

Figure 8.2 Seven-step improvement process

Wisdom 1. Identify the strategy for 2. Define what you will Data
improvement measure
• Vision
• Business need
• Strategy
• Tactical goals Apply
• Operational goals

PLAN
7. Implement improvement 3. Gather the data
• Who? How? When?
• Criteria to evaluate
integrity of data
• Operational goals
• Service measurement
ACT DO

6. Present and use the

information
• Assessment summary
• Action plans
• Etc.

CHECK

5. Analyse the information 4. Process the data

and data • Frequency?
• Trends? • Format?
• Targets? • Tools and systems?
• Improvements required? • Accuracy?

Knowledge Information

Each step is driven by the strategic, tactical and operational goals

defined during service strategy and service design.

Step 1 – Identify the strategy for improvement

Using the vision, strategy and goals of the organization, identify
how improvements in IT services can enable the business to achieve
these, based on current and future plans.

Step 2 – Define what you will measure

A set of measurements is defined that fully support the goals of
the organization. Organizations may find that they have
limitations on what can actually be measured so a gap analysis

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 Continual service improvement   53

needs to be conducted between what is or can be measured

today and what is ideally required. The gaps and implications
(including potential risks) can then be reported to the business,
the customers and IT management. It is possible that new tools
or customization will be required at some stage.

Step 3 – Gather the data

Monitoring tools and/or manual processes are used to gather the
data needed for the measurements that have been defined.
Quality is the key objective of monitoring for CSI; monitoring
therefore focuses on the effectiveness of a service, process, tool,
organization or CI. The emphasis is on identifying where
improvements can be made to the existing level of service, or IT
performance, typically by detecting exceptions and resolutions.
However, CSI is not only interested in exceptions. If an SLA is
consistently met over time, CSI is also interested in determining
whether that level of performance can be sustained at a lower
cost or whether it needs to be upgraded to an even better level
of performance.

Step 4 – Process the data

Raw data is processed into the required format, typically
providing an end-to-end perspective on the performance of
services and/or processes.
Processing the data into useful information is a fundamental CSI
activity. While monitoring and collecting data on a single
infrastructure component is important, it is key to understand
that component’s impact on the larger infrastructure and IT service.

Step 5 – Analyse the information and data

Data analysis transforms the information into knowledge of the
events that are affecting the organization.

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 54   Continual service improvement

Once the data is processed into information, the results can be

analysed to answer questions such as:
■■ Are we meeting targets?
■■ Are there any clear trends?
■■ Is corrective action required? What is the cost?

Step 6 – Present and use the information

The knowledge gained can now be presented in a format that is
easy to understand and allows those receiving the information to
make strategic, tactical and operational decisions. The information
needs to be provided at the right level and in the right way for the
intended audience. It needs to provide value, note exceptions to
service, and identify any benefits that have arisen during the
time period.
Now, more than ever, IT must invest the time to understand
specific business goals and translate IT metrics to reflect an impact
against these business goals. Often there is a gap between what
IT reports and what is of interest to the business.
Although most reports tend to concentrate on areas of poor
performance, good news needs to be reported as well. A report
showing improvement trends is IT services’ best marketing vehicle.

Step 7 – Implement improvement

The knowledge gained is used to optimize, improve and correct
services, processes, and all other supporting activities and
technology. The corrective actions required to improve the
service are identified and communicated to the organization.
CSI will identify many opportunities for improvement and an
organization will need to determine priorities based on its goals,
and the resources and funding available.

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 Continual service improvement   55

The seven-step improvement process is continual and loops back

to the beginning.

8.2.2 Service measurement

There are four basic reasons to monitor and measure. These are to:
■■ Validate previous decisions that have been made
■■ Direct activities in order to meet set targets – this is the most
prevalent reason for monitoring and measuring
■■ Justify that a course of action is required, with factual
evidence or proof
■■ Intervene at the appropriate point and take corrective action.
Monitoring and measurement underpins CSI and the seven-step
improvement process, and is an essential part of being able to
manage services and processes, and report value to the business.
Many organizations today measure at the component level; but
although this is necessary and valuable, service measurement
must go up a level to provide a view of the true customer
experience of services being delivered.
There are three types of metrics that an organization needs to
collect to support CSI activities as well as other process activities:
■■ Technology metrics Often associated with component- and
application-based metrics such as performance and availability
■■ Process metrics Captured in the form of critical success
factors, key performance indicators and activity metrics
■■ Service metrics The results of the end-to-end service.
Component/technology metrics are used to compute the
service metrics.
It is essential that a baseline is established at the start of any
improvement activity so that there is a reference point against
which changes in performance can be measured.

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 56   Continual service improvement

8.2.3 Service reporting

A significant amount of data is collated and monitored by IT in
the daily delivery of quality service to the business, but only a
small subset is of real interest and importance to the business.
The business likes to see a historical representation of the past
period’s performance that portrays its experience, but it is more
concerned with those historical events that continue to be a
threat going forward, and how IT intends to mitigate against
such threats.
It is not enough to present reports depicting adherence or
otherwise to SLAs. IT needs to build an actionable approach to
reporting, i.e. what happened, what IT did, how IT will ensure it
doesn’t impact again and how IT is working to improve service
delivery generally.
A reporting ethos which focuses on the future as strongly as it
focuses on the past also provides the means for IT to market its
offerings directly aligned to the positive or negative experiences
of the business.

8.3 Key roles

While a CSI manager is responsible for the overall CSI activities
within an organization, most of the work related to detailed
improvements is carried out within each of the lifecycle
stages, processes and activities. Service owners, working
within the framework of CSI, are responsible for improvements
to their services.

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9 Service management processes

and functions
Each core ITIL publication addresses a stage in the service
lifecycle and defines a key set of processes required during that
stage. ITIL Service Operation also describes four functions.
Table 9.1 lists the key processes and functions defined by each
lifecycle stage. Table 9.2 provides an alphabetical list of service
management processes and functions defined in ITIL, and
cross-references them to the publication where they are primarily
defined and to any other publication where significant further
expansion of the process is provided. Most processes play some
role during each stage of the lifecycle, but only significant
references from the core publications are included in Table 9.2.

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 58   Service management processes and functions

Table 9.1 Service management processes and functions across

the lifecycle

Service strategy Service design

Strategy management for Design coordination
IT services Service catalogue
Service portfolio management management
Financial management for Service level management
IT services Availability management
Demand management Capacity management
Business relationship IT service continuity
management management
Information security
management
Supplier management
Service transition Service operation
Transition planning and Event management
support Incident management
Change management Request management
Service asset and configuration Problem management
management
Access management
Release and deployment
Functions
management
Service desk
Service validation and testing
Technical management
Change evaluation
IT operations management
Knowledge management
Application management
Continual service improvement
Seven-step improvement process

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 Service management processes and functions   59

Table 9.2 ITIL service management processes and functions

Service management process Primary Further

source expansion
Access management SO
Availability management SD SS, CSI
Business relationship SS SD, CSI
management
Capacity management SD SO, CSI
Change evaluation ST
Change management ST
Demand management SS SD
Design coordination SD
Event management SO
Financial management for SS
IT services
Incident management SO SD, CSI
Information security SD SO
management
IT service continuity SD
management
Knowledge management ST CSI
Problem management SO
Release and deployment ST
management

Table continues

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 60   Service management processes and functions

Table 9.2 continued

Service management process Primary Further

source expansion
Request fulfilment SO
Service asset and configuration ST
management
Service catalogue management SD SS
Service level management SD SS, CSI
Service portfolio management SS SD
Service validation and testing ST
Seven-step improvement process CSI
Strategy management for SS
IT services
Supplier management SD
Transition planning and support ST SS
Service management function Primary Further
source expansion
Application management SO SD, CSI
IT operations management SO
Service desk SO SS, SD, ST, CSI
Technical management SO

Key: CSI = continual service improvement; SD = service design;

SO = service operation; SS = service strategy; and ST = service transition.

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10 Qualifications

10.1 Overview
Training in service management helps service providers build and
maintain their service management capability. The official ITIL
qualification scheme enables organizations to develop the
competence of their personnel through approved training courses.
The scheme has four levels:
■■ Foundation
■■ Intermediate
■■ ITIL Expert
■■ ITIL Master.
All examinations are multiple-choice and have been designed to
test at a variety of levels of difficulty in the learning process by
using Bloom’s Taxonomy principles adapted to the specific ITIL
principles. The level of difficulty depends on the level of scheme
or qualification supported.
There are also further complementary service management
qualifications available which can contribute (accumulating
credits) towards achievement of the ITIL Expert. Further details
of these can be found at www.itil-officialsite.com/Qualifications/
ComplementaryQualifications.aspx

10.2 Foundation
The Foundation level ensures candidates gain knowledge of the
ITIL terminology, structure and basic concepts, and comprehend
the core principles of ITIL practices for service management.
Foundation level represents two credits towards the ITIL Expert.

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 62  Qualifications

10.3 Intermediate streams

Intermediate qualifications are available across two streams:
lifecycle and capability. Both intermediate streams assess an
individual’s comprehension and application of the concepts of
ITIL. Candidates may take units from either of the streams.

10.3.1 Lifecycle stream

The units are based on the five core ITIL publications. This
qualification is of interest to candidates wishing to obtain
knowledge of ITIL practices within the service lifecycle context:
■■ Service strategy
■■ Service design
■■ Service transition
■■ Service operation
■■ Continual service improvement.

10.3.2 Capability stream

The units are based around four clusters of related content. This
qualification is of interest to candidates who wish to be certified
in a deep level of understanding of processes and roles:
■■ Service offerings and agreements
■■ Release, control and validation
■■ Operational support and analysis
■■ Planning, protection and optimization.
Within the intermediate streams, each lifecycle unit represents
three credits and each capability unit represents four credits
towards the ITIL Expert.

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 Qualifications  63

10.4 Managing Across the Lifecycle

The Managing Across the Lifecycle (MALC) course brings together
the full essence of a lifecycle approach to service management.
MALC represents five credits towards the ITIL Expert.

10.5 ITIL Expert

Candidates automatically qualify for an ITIL Expert certificate
once they have achieved the required 22 credits from Foundation
(mandatory initial unit), Intermediate units and MALC (mandatory
final unit). No further examination or courses are required.

10.6 ITIL Master

The ITIL Master qualification validates the capability of the
candidate to apply the principles, methods and techniques from
ITIL in the workplace.
To achieve the ITIL Master qualification, the candidate must be
able to explain and justify how they selected and individually
applied a range of knowledge, principles, methods and techniques
from ITIL and supporting management techniques, to achieve
desired business outcomes in one or more practical assignments.
To be eligible for the ITIL Master qualification, candidates must
have reached the ITIL Expert level and worked in IT service
management for at least five years in leadership, managerial or
higher-management advisory levels.

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 11 Related guidance
ITIL is part of a portfolio of best-practice publications aimed at
helping organizations and individuals manage projects,
programmes and services consistently and effectively.
These publications include the following:
■■ Management of Portfolios (MoP® ) Principles, practices and
guidance on implementing portfolio management.
Office of Government Commerce (2011). Management of
Portfolios. The Stationery Office, London.
■■ Management of Risk (M_o_R® ) A framework for
taking informed decisions about risks that affect
performance objectives.
Office of Government Commerce (2010). Management of
Risk. The Stationery Office, London.
■■ Management of Value (MoV® ) Guidance on maximizing
value through effective use of priorities, stakeholder needs
and resources.
Office of Government Commerce (2010). Management of
Value. The Stationery Office, London.
■■ Managing Successful Programmes (MSP® ) A framework to
achieve change outcomes and benefits.
Cabinet Office (2011). Managing Successful Programmes.
The Stationery Office, London.
■■ Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2® A structured
method for effective project management via clearly
defined products.
Office of Government Commerce (2009). Managing Successful
Projects with PRINCE2. The Stationery Office, London.

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 Related guidance   65

■■ Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices (P3O® ) Principles,

processes and techniques to establish, develop and maintain
support structures.
Office of Government Commerce (2008). Portfolio, Programme
and Project Offices. The Stationery Office, London.
Figure 11.1 shows ITIL’s relationship with these best practices,
which can be tailored to meet the needs of the organization.

Figure 11.1 ITIL’s relationship with other best-practice guides

Glossary

Guidance
Models

Management Management Portfolio,

Portfolio, of Risk of Value Programme ITIL®
Programme (M_o_R®) (MoV®) and Project
and Project Offices
Management (P3O®)
Maturity
Model
(P3M3®)
Portfolio management (MoP®)

PRINCE2®
Maturity Programme management (MSP®)
Model
(P2MM)
Project management (PRINCE2®)

The primary standard for IT service management is ISO/IEC

20000, which is an internationally recognized standard for
service providers who manage and deliver IT services to internal
or external customers. This standard is based on a service
management system that is used to direct and control the service
management activities of the service provider. One of the most
common routes for an organization to achieve the requirements
of ISO/IEC 20000 is by adopting ITIL best practices.

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 66   Related guidance

Other related frameworks, best practices, standards, models and

quality systems are listed below:
■■ Quality management systems Total Quality Management
and ISO 9000:2005 are widely used, as is the Plan-Do-Check-
Act cycle, often referred to as the Deming Cycle
■■ Risk management Management of Risk (M_o_R), ISO 31000,
Risk IT and ISO/IEC 27001 all provide guidance related to risk
management
■■ Governance of IT ISO 9004 provides guidance for board- and
executive-level governance, and ISO/IEC 38500 provides
guidance for corporate governance
■■ Control OBjectives for Information and related Technology
COBIT is a governance and control framework for IT
management created by ISACA and the IT Governance
Institute (ITGI)
■■ Environmental management and green/sustainable IT ISO
14001 is a series of standards related to an environment
management system
■■ ISO standards and publications for IT There are many ISO
standards and publications, including ISO 9241 for the utility
of a service; ISO/IEC 27001 for information security
management; ISO/IEC 15504 or SPICE for process assessment;
and ISO/IEC 19770 for software asset management
■■ ITIL and the Open Systems Interconnection framework
The OSI framework is a reference model defining common
network standards and definitions
■■ Organizational change Kotter’s eight steps for
organizational change are referenced in ITIL Service
Transition and ITIL Continual Service Improvement
■■ Skills Framework for the Information Age This is a common
framework for IT skills, including job standardization, skills
audits and skills planning exercises

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 Related guidance   67

■■ Carnegie Mellon CMMI and eSCM framework The Capability

Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is a process improvement
approach; the eSourcing Capability Model for Service
Providers (eSCM-SP) is a framework to improve the
relationship between IT service providers and customers
■■ Balanced scorecard This is an approach to strategic
management which uses four perspectives (learning and
growth, business process, customer and financial) as a basis
for assessing and reporting performance
■■ Six Sigma This comprises a data-driven process improvement
approach, which identifies defects that lead to improvement
and reduction in process variation.

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12 Summary
Since the original publication of the ITIL framework, many
changes have taken place affecting the relationship between
those delivering services and the various businesses they support,
whether these are internal IT organizations or external service
providers. As both business and technology continue to evolve at
a rapid pace, it is increasingly important to have good practices
in place to enable the definition, design, implementation,
operation and improvement of services, ensuring management
controls and governance while maintaining the flexibility needed
to meet new and changed requirements.
The ITIL publications represent the learning and experience of
many organizations delivering services to customers, and the
underpinning theme of continual service improvement will
enable best practice not only to evolve but also to drive quality
and efficiency throughout the service management industry.
ITIL is relevant to service providers of all sizes, whether in the
public or private sector, providing a vendor-neutral, non-
prescriptive framework that can be adopted and adapted to
meet the needs of the organization and its customers. In an
industry where sourcing strategies can be varied and complex,
ITIL provides a common language and set of processes that
enable end-to-end services to be delivered in a consistent and
integrated manner.
ITIL is successful because it describes practices that enable
organizations to deliver benefits, return on investment and
sustained success. ITIL is adopted by organizations to enable
them to:

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 Summary  69

■■ Deliver value for customers through services

■■ Integrate the strategy for services with the business strategy
and customer needs
■■ Measure, monitor and optimize IT services and service
provider performance
■■ Manage the IT investment and budget
■■ Manage risk
■■ Manage knowledge
■■ Manage capabilities and resources to deliver services
effectively and efficiently
■■ Enable adoption of a standard approach to service
management across the enterprise
■■ Change the organizational culture to support the
achievement of sustained success
■■ Improve the interaction and relationship with customers
■■ Coordinate the delivery of goods and services across the
value network
■■ Optimize and reduce costs.
Changing business priorities, economic challenges, commercial
pressures and new technologies will continue to shape the market.
The guidance provided in the ITIL publications provides a proven
framework of best practice to enhance an organization’s capability
to deliver maximum value to the business.

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 Further guidance
There are a number of ways that individuals and organizations
can build on their understanding of ITIL to drive better adoption
of best practice and to maximize the benefits to the business and
its customers.
■■ Introduction to the ITIL Service Lifecycle provides a more
detailed overview of the five core ITIL publications and
includes an introduction to service management as a whole.
Cabinet Office (2011). Introduction to the ITIL Service
Lifecycle. The Stationery Office, London.
■■ The five core publications are available as hard-copy books, as
PDFs or e-books, or as an online subscription, each providing
detailed guidance for an area of the ITIL service lifecycle.
Cabinet Office (2011). ITIL Continual Service Improvement.
The Stationery Office, London.
Cabinet Office (2011). ITIL Service Design. The Stationery
Office, London.
Cabinet Office (2011). ITIL Service Operation. The Stationery
Office, London.
Cabinet Office (2011). ITIL Service Strategy. The Stationery
Office, London.
Cabinet Office (2011). ITIL Service Transition. The Stationery
Office, London.
■■ Membership of the itSMF provides access to a network of
industry experts, information sources and a range of member
events, including regional groups, seminars and special
interest groups. These provide valuable opportunities to
share knowledge and experience with other service
management practitioners.

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 Further guidance   71

■■ The itSMF UK bookshop provides a catalogue of publications

covering a wide range of service management-related topics,
including co-branded and recommended publications.
■■ The ITIL qualification scheme delivers approved training
courses that enable individuals to identify appropriate
learning solutions to meet their needs and to support their
professional development.
■■ A number of study guides are available to support students
studying ITIL, in support of the accredited training courses.
Here are two published by TSO.
Cabinet Office (2012). ITIL Foundation Handbook.
The Stationery Office, London.
Cabinet Office (2012). Passing your ITIL Foundation Exam.
The Stationery Office, London.
The above information sources will enable organizations to
benefit from the knowledge and experience of their service
management peers and to learn from, and contribute to, the
service management industry as a whole.

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 Contact points

itSMF UK
150 Wharfedale Road
Winnersh Triangle
Wokingham
Berkshire RG41 5RB
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 118 918 6500
Fax: +44 (0) 118 969 9749
Email: [email protected]
www.itsmf.com

The Stationery Office (TSO)

PO Box 29
Norwich NR3 1GN
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 870 600 5522
Fax: +44 (0) 870 600 5533
Email: [email protected]
www.tso.co.uk

About itSMF
The IT service management forum, known as the itSMF, is the
only truly independent and internationally recognized forum for
IT service management professionals worldwide.

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 Contact points   73

This not-for-profit organization is a prominent player in the

ongoing development and promotion of IT service management best
practice, standards and qualifications, and has been since 1991.
Globally, the itSMF now boasts over 6000 member companies,
blue-chip and public-sector alike, covering in excess of 70,000
individuals spread over more than 50 international chapters.
Each chapter is a separate legal entity and is largely autonomous.
The UK chapter has over 9,000 members; it offers a flourishing
annual conference, online bookstore, regular regional meetings,
special interest groups and numerous other benefits for members.
Its website is at www.itsmf.co.uk.
There is a separate international entity, itSMF International, that
provides an overall steering and support function to existing and
emerging chapters. It has its own website at www.itsmf.org.

About TSO
TSO is one of the largest publishers by volume in the UK,
publishing more than 9,000 titles a year in print and digital
formats for a wide range of clients. It has a long history in
publishing best-practice guidance related to project, programme
and IT service management. Working with partners such as
itSMF, the Project Management Institute, Service Management
101 and APMG-International, TSO publishes guidance for a
global range of management disciplines.
For more information on TSO’s publications and to browse its
resources, please visit www.internationalbestpractice.com

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379 An Introductory Overview of ITIL 2011 v0_4.indd 80 11/09/2013 10:18
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 Best Management Practice
Portfolio Product

An Introductory Overview
of ITIL® 2011

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