Week 1 - Summary - Planning and Where are we now

At the beginning of this module we needed to set the scene of what was to come in terms of actually implemting an IT service management solution.

As with any project, and implementing good practice as defined by the ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) needs to be managed properly and effectively in order to facilitate success. If we fail to plan, then we plan to fail (see the illustration adjacent, and look it up, it is known as the Deming PDCA cycle, it's concepts can be found within ITIL).

Essentially the journey for implementing service management gets us to ask 4 questions, where are we now, where do we want to be, how will we get there, and finally, when we get there what do we do then (the Deming cycle, points us in the direction of the answer to that one!).

The ITIL framework is a set of guidelines originally set down by the OGC (Office of Government and Commerce) which details best practice in a number of interelated areas. The framework is made up of a number of books:

• Software Asset Management (support IT)
• Service Support (support IT and business)
• Service Delivery (deliver IT)
• ICT Infrastructure Management (Manage infrastructure)
• Delivering Services to Businesses (business perspective)
• Applications Management (managing applications)

Because each business is different it is not necessary to use everything from all of the guidelines, a 'dip-in' approach is acceptable.
Why the need for such a framework? First of all it's worth considering where IT fits in the jigsaw of an organisation and how it was, is and will be viewed. 5, 10 or more years back, IT was probably seen as fairly low status within a business, that has changed because of the way IT is now used to enhance, support and deliver competitiveness that businesses strive for. Using IT in a business is a norm. The IT department is seen as a strategic business unit amongst its peers.

Outsourcing was a hot topic in the last 5 years or so, but difficulties have arisen for some businesses where their demands for change to react to the business environment have not been met with their outsource partners at the velocity required. This has seen a number of blue chip companies attempting to bring back inhouse these business functions and of course with that the management thereof - another reason for referring to best practices. Some functional areas were found to be more easily outsourced than others, typically mature functional areas, for example accounting.

The IT department are now an integral piece of the jigsaw and respond to the needs of the other 'pieces', and because of this, CIO/ICT managers require more than just the technical skills of yesteryear, they need good business skills as well (ITIL can help them here), being able to understand the needs of the business and its strategies and to communicate IT solutions to all levels in a manner which will gain 'buy-in' and importantly the budgets to implement services to maintain the levels of service the business demands.

The business as a whole works for it's stakeholders which include customers and clients - ITIL makes a distinction between these latter two - Please take part and comment on this, and any of the above.