IT Management Reference Guide

This is the first of a two-part series describing those elements of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) that are least understood. These elements cause confusion among those preparing for the examination for certification in ITIL Fundamentals, and also for those planning for the implementation of all or portions of the ITIL framework. I base this information on observations while implementing ITIL processes, and on feedback I have received from over 300 students whom I have certified in the Fundamentals of ITIL and Service Management.

This first part discusses nine common misunderstandings associated with the six infrastructure processes of Service Delivery. These processes are listed in Figure 1. Part two will discuss elements of Service Support that tend to be least understood.

Figure 1 Service Delivery Processes

Nine Elements of ITIL Service Delivery Often Misunderstood

Figure 2 below lists nine common elements of Service Delivery that are frequently misunderstood by those initiating a study of the ITIL framework. Each of these will be discussed in more detail.

Figure 2 Misunderstood Elements of ITIL Service Delivery

1. Distinguishing Service Delivery from Service Support – The 12 entities (11 processes and one function) associated with ITIL fall into one of two groupings: Service Delivery and Service Support. Understanding the basic differences between these two categories helps to prioritize the implementation of these processes, and may help in terms of a certification exam question. Many students struggle with these differences. Figure 3 lists the primary differences between these two groupings.

   Category	Service Delivery	Service Support
   Human Interface	Customer-Facing	User-Facing
   Process Focus	Tactical	Operational
   Planning Horizon	Weeks-to-Months	Hours-to-Days
   Orientation	Management-Oriented	Enduser-Oriented

   Figure 3 Differences Between Service Delivery and Service Support

2. Distinguishing Customer from User – In ITIL terms, the Customer is the person who requests and usually pays (in one way or another) for the IT services provided. Customer are the decision makers as to the quality of IT services delivered, are often the managers of Users and are associated with the Service Delivery processes. Users are those who utilize the IT services on a daily basis. Their jobs depend on and are supported by IT services, and they associated with the Service Support processes.
3. Understanding Roles of Customer, IT Provider and Vendor in Relation to Service Level Management – The Customer (not the User) provides service requirements to, and negotiates service levels with, the IT Provider (the IT person designated to represent IT). Among other roles, the IT Provider acts as a supplier when negotiating service levels with the Customer and acts as a customer when negotiating service levels with external vendors. Vendors provide external support services to IT.
4. Distinguishing SLAs from OLAs from UCs – An SLA (service level agreement) is a document agreed to and signed by the Customer and the IT provider that stipulates the quality targets for various IT services. An OLA (operating level agreement) is a document similar to an SLA but is between an IT functional group directly involved with users such as the Service Desk and an IT support group such as Data Base Administration. The OLA describes the level of response that the support will provide to the IT functional group.

   SLAs and OLAs are internal agreements and not considered to be legally binding. A UC (underpinning contract) is a legally binding document between the IT Provider and an external support vendor such as a telephone company or an Internet Service Provider.

5. Understanding Responsibilities Associated with Charging – Company management is responsible for setting policy concerning charging for IT services. The first policy is whether or not to charge at all because ITIL views charging as optional. Financial Management is responsible for establishing the charging system itself.
6. Distinguishing Financial Management from Asset Management – ITIL does not include asset management as one of it processes as some may think. Financial Management involves the budgeting, accounting and optional charging for IT services. Asset management involves the accounting for all IT resources, including those outside the realm of the infrastructure.
7. Additional Roles of Capacity Management – Most students of ITIL understand the primary role of Capacity Management of forecasting and providing adequate resources to meet IT service requirement. But many do not recognize that this process also has the secondary roles of tuning, modeling and evaluating new technologies.
8. Distinguishing the Responsibilities Between Availability Management and Security Management – There is one primary aspect about Availability Management and Security Management that those learning about ITIL often misunderstand. This involves security policy, which is set by company management. Availability Management is responsible for ensuring that new applications restrict availability when security policies are violated. Security Management is responsible for ensuring that new applications are in compliance with all current security policies.
9. Understanding the Relationships Among Business Continuity, Service Continuity and Disaster Recovery – Business continuity involves the proactive mitigation of impacts to critical business processes in the event of a sustained disaster. Disaster recovery involves the reactive restoration of the IT infrastructure. The ITIL notion of Service Continuity is both the proactive mitigation of impacts to business processes that utilize IT services as the result of a disaster, and the reactive restoration of IT services after a sustained outage.

Summary

This first of a two-part series on common misunderstandings of ITIL dealt with elements associated with Service Delivery. In part two, I will present similar areas of confusion involving the Service Support processes of ITIL.