6 Selected Functions

ITIL Version 3 Foundation Certificate EX0-101: Selected Functions

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Lesson 1. Course Introduction

Hi! My name is Rusty Reese and I'll be your instructor for Selected Functions. This course is one of a series of lectures on ITIL Version 3 Foundation Certificate EX0-101. In this lecture, I'll discuss the Service Desk and Technical Management functions. Remember to use the Course Tools tab if you want to:

� View or print a complete transcript of my lecture � Download the PowerPoint presentation I use in this lecture � View or print takeaways and reference materials from this lecture � View flashcards or play a match game to check your understanding of this lecture

When you exit this course, be sure to view my other lectures in ITIL Version 3 Foundation Certificate EX0-101.

Lesson 2. Selected Functions

After completing this lesson, you should be able to:

� Describe the roles and responsibilities of the Service Desk function � Describe the roles and responsibilities of the Application Management function � Describe the roles and responsibilities of the IT Operations Management function � Describe the roles and responsibilities of the Technical Management function

Topic 2.1 Instruction Presentation

Slide 1 The IT organization's Service Desk provides technical services to department employees. One of the distinguishing features of any professional technical organization is its ability to prioritize work and give staff members the ability to focus on the most important issue - serving the customer base. The IT organization's Service Desk is a central point of intake for problems and requests pertaining to all technical services. The Service Desk performs initial troubleshooting and resolves the problem if possible. If the problem persists, the Service Desk collects the appropriate data, assigns a tracking number (ticket), refers the problem to the appropriate resource as outlined by technology's management and monitors the ticket for resolution.

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Slide 2 The Service Desk can be structured differently in many organizations but most organizations choose to centralize the Service Desk for maximize efficiency and effectiveness. An organization may choose one of the following structures: Local Service Desk – located near the users they support providing a local presence which users feel they have immediate direct help but this environment is usually expensive and sometimes inefficient for the IT organization. Virtual Service Desk - looks to be operating as a centralized Service desk to users but is actually spread out in different geographical locations which may be support provided in different countries or in different home offices. Security safeguards may present a problem to ensure that all staff is consistent in providing the quality service required. If the Service Desk is spread across multiple geographical areas culture may be an issue. Slide 3 Follow the Sun – is operating two or more Service Desks in different time zones to provide 24 hour service. A typical Service Desk in the United States would have a Service Desk operating during standard business hours and after hours the Service Desk will switch services to a Service Desk in India where services are handled after business hours until the next business day in the United States. Specialized Service Desk groups – If an organization is providing unique services it may establish specialized Service Desk groups to handle specialized problems to establish quicker resolutions as well as keep within security constraints. An example of this is in a Top Secret organization where certain users have the privilege to only see and work on certain information and that information is handed over to another business unit for their services to be completed prior to being issued to a customer. Slide 4 Environment – The environment chosen to operate a Service Desk should be adequately supplied with enough space, lighting, environmental needs to carry out operations, and a separate break rooms for staff. Centralized Service Desk - The most common setup eliminating multiple Service Desks by combining them all together to provide more efficient and effective service support to the users. Slide 5 Within most corporate IT environments there is a department called Operations and Support, which contains a centralized Technical Support Group that is responsible for operating the Service Desk, to include Providing end users with technical support on hardware and software issues per Service Level Agreement Level 1 and 2 help desk support for all hardware, software, and telephony Application production readiness assessments Password and access assistance and reset Tracking and reporting, including dashboard metrics First line of defense for all incidents; logging all incidents, service requests, establishing initial categorization and prioritization Escalates incidents to Computer Security Incident Response Team First line of defense for problem resolution Provides status reporting of statues of services, incidents, and service requests Typical positions within this group include Help Desk Technician



Help Desk Manager User Management Specialist Slide 6 The Service Desk provides live assistance and recorded information on all known problems and planned outages within its charge. These calls are made to their direct line. Also, the Service Desk accepts requests sent to the Service Desk mailbox and facsimile request. To the greatest extent possible, the Service Desk should resolve customer requests at the tier one level. Providing resolution should require a thorough understanding of all-diagnostic tools and information provided by technical staff. Furthermore, information provided by the customer should be regarded as vital in the analysis process with reasonable expectations of its validity and consistency. A request that is not resolved by tier one and requires specialized assistance should be escalated to relevant technical groups. Additionally, Service Desk staff should diplomatically resist all customer requests for direct access to technical staff. Service Desk staff members should monitor all unresolved calls periodically for update information provided by the analyst. Slide 7 In most organizations when calling the Service Desk, the following information should be required. Some information may or may not be applicable depending on the type of problem. Contact name Phone number (include area code) Program Area (e.g., government entity and division, vendor entity and host agency) Alternate contact, if appropriate Address and location of problem Problem - Please give an accurate description of the problem. Be sure to include any error messages. If applicable, indicate which application the user is trying to access, and include how the user normally signs onto this application. User ID for effected service and network logon ID, if appropriate Server or service identification Type of equipment Tag number (usually located on the CPU of PC) Circuit ID, PID, phone line number or IP and router address if communication problems Slide 8 A ticket number should be provided to the client. If it is necessary to communicate back to update information or to check the status of the ticket, a user should call the Service Desk and reference the ticket number when speaking with the staff. Callers should also have the capability to leave a message; however, it is important to include the ticket number. Slide 9 The department technical staff should commit to being responsive to the Service Desk in a timely manner. This means: Technical supervisors should establish group policies. At least one analyst is required to monitor their respective system throughout the day and said analyst should be made accessible to the Service Desk staff. Technical staff should respond to and/or re-route requests to other staff members in a timely fashion. There should be a standard contact time of 1 hour from the time the call is routed from the Service Desk. This means within one hour the call should have at the very least been opened and reviewed



by an analyst in the section it was routed to. In the event that the problem cannot be handled by the original routed section, it should be either re-routed to the appropriate section or sent back to the Service Desk. Throughout the process of handling a trouble ticket, the customer should be kept apprised of the situation, including the estimated time of resolution. These updates can be made via e-mail or telephone. If it is deemed necessary that the original analyst should contact the customer, the current analyst should update the trouble ticket with an explanation and forward the application via the Service Desk to the original analyst section with instruction to contact the customer. Technical staff should record information and their actions within the Service Desk application and close out the ticket upon completion. Slide 10 Technical staff and managers should provide the Service Desk staff with information and tools that should enable them to assist and inform our customers. The department's technical staff should not encourage customers to usurp any of the processes listed here (e.g., encouraging the customer to call them back for future assistance rather than the Service Desk). The IT organizations should review all Service Desk reports to evaluate either the performance, productivity, or return on investment of the Service Desk's services and future planning and training. Slide 11 To have an effective and efficient Service Desk the IT organization should centralize all user management in the Service Desk for all types of user accounts. The Service Desk should then enforce account-related workflows for user management etc. Centralization should include all account types, including Oracle, Mainframe, Virtual Private Network (VPN), Active Directory, mobile devices, etc. The IT organization should ensure that the Service Desk gets involved early in the process of deploying software and hardware so that they can become sufficiently conversant in the item to be able to render assistance to users. The Service Desk is usually managed in an ideal IT organization under the Technical Support Group. Slide 12 KPIs are a crucial component of Governance. For any organization to have an effective Governance program in place there must be effective KPIs. Just as a car's gauges provide feedback to the driver on how the system (car) is performing in moving toward its objectives (destination), KPIs provide management feedback on how the Service Desk is performing in moving toward its objective (service and value delivery). Metrics and KPIs are often lumped together and, as a consequence, they are often considered synonymous. Although there may be instances when a KPI consists of a single metric, and they are both used to measure, the two are indeed not synonymous because the expected use of the two is different. A metric is simply a measurement of data. For example, collecting the number of daily calls to the Service Desk is a metric. Slide 13 On the other hand, Key Performance Indicators are more complex and considerably more robust than metrics. As noted above, KPIs are elements of knowledge that are used to help an organization define and measure progress toward organizational goals. KPIs are used to determine present state and then help suggest a course of action for improvement. Typically, KPIs are aligned to organizational Service Desk's strategy and are used in dashboard or scorecard reporting to senior



leadership and management. A KPI is a central component of a measurable organizational objective, which is made up of a direction, measure, benchmark, target and time frame. For example "Decrease Average Email outage durations by five percent for each of the next six years." Here, "Average Email outage durations" is the measure. Slide 14 Measures are often indicators of future performance. For that reason, KPIs are used by senior leadership to guide overall organizational improvement. In that role, they are typically considered a Governance tool, but that is an oversimplification of their role within the Information Technology organization. Essentially, KPIs serve a similar function for three separate tools the organization uses or can use. A scorecard, measures whether an organization is meeting its objectives. It is an unbiased evaluation of performance for the overall organization that provides a comprehensive view, which helps organizations plan for and act in their best long-term interests. A dashboard is similar to a scorecard, but has a different purpose. Scorecards are useful for evaluating organizational performance and providing strategic guidance and direction, while a dashboard provides more immediate, operational level utility. Dashboards are normally used (primarily) by the management level just below the senior leaders. KPIs in the Service Catalog are there to provide feedback to service owners as to how well they are meeting both the overall objectives of the service and the specifics of the Service Level Agreements (SLA). Slide 15 A KPI may be specific to an individual dashboard, scorecard, or service. Alternately, the same KPI can be used by more than one tool at more than one level. In general, however, all KPIs are aligned to at least one service because services only exist if they provide value to the customer, and KPIs are essentially a value-delivery measurement. For example, the Service Desk, using the Service Center tool, is quite capable of logging and tallying a large variety of Incident Management measures that will assist the IT organization in meeting the organization's critical success factors. Slide 16 The main function of the Technical Management department is to ensure the maximum efficiency of the IT organizational structure and the optimum utilization and safeguarding of information for the organization. The Technical Management group is staffed with the employees who are specialized in areas of Information Technology and organized into silos based on the architecture they support. These skill-sets allow the IT organization to provide overlap in planning, implementing, and maintaining the network infrastructure. Their expertise allows the organization to meet the following objectives: Provide the resources and knowledge to strategically design, build new or modified existing applications in a cost effective manner Transition new or modified applications into the production environment Operate network infrastructure within ITIL and best practices Provide Continual Service Improvement for IT services and resources Provide subject matter expert assistance to operational staff to perform their duties efficiently and effectively Perform problem resolution pertaining to technical failures Assist management in Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT)



Assist management in developing policies and procedures Slide 17 Within Technical Management, the Knowledge Management Group is responsible for Administering the organization's knowledge management systems and repositories, including internal and external assets Coordinating for information consistency between the Data Dictionary, the CMDB, the Service Catalog, the Application Portfolio, and any other utility-enabled repository. Coordination will occur in a manner that will facilitate collaboration across the IT department Typical positions within this group include Knowledge Management Specialist/Manager ITSM Tools Manager/Specialist Slide 18 Within Technical Management, the Architecture Group is responsible for Developing, documenting, and controlling the IT architecture and ensuring its compatibility with the enterprise architecture Developing and controlling the overall architecture plan Approving all architecture changes and exceptions Providing architectural guidance to the entire organization Coordinating the organization's governance efforts Typical positions within this group include Senior Architect Architect Slide 19 Within Technical Management, the Database Management Group is responsible for managing the data needs of the enterprise, to include Ensuring databases conform to current and planned architecture ; seeking and implementing exceptions as required Providing input to the organization architecture , project and portfolio management processes, and to application portfolio management Providing consultation/advice on data security, including PCI Creating and maintaining the Data Dictionary Typical positions within this group include Database Manager Database Administrator Data Analyst Slide 20 Within Technical Management, the Change Management Group is responsible for Coordinating the overall change management process Ensuring changes conform to architecture plans and schema Maintaining the change management logs/databases Ensuring release schedules are blended with project initiatives Supervising (dotted line) the Change Management, Release Management, and Configuration Management functions to ensure coordination across the IT Department Typical position and/or role within this group include Change Manager (depending on the workload, this position may be a full-time position or a role assigned to an individual as part of their job responsibilities)



Slide 21 Within Technical Management, the Quality Management Group is responsible for managing the overall quality program for the organization, to include Supervising the production readiness assessments and certifying readiness Collecting and reporting all dashboard and Service Catalog-related metrics Assisting service owners with development of appropriate metrics and assessing the quality and maturity of their services Typical positions within this group include Quality Manager Quality Specialist Slide 22 Within Technical Management, the Application Portfolio Management Group is responsible for managing the Application Portfolio and its integration points, to include Monitoring all changes to the Application Portfolio, including changes to included databases and changes to the Service Catalog that impact the Application Portfolio Approving all Application Portfolio changes that impact the architecture Coordinating all Application Portfolio changes with Architecture Management Typical positions within this group include Application Portfolio Manager ITSM Tools Manager/Specialist Slide 23 Application Management staff is skilled in the area of a software application where as Technical Management staff is skilled in architectural design. An application sometimes is referred to as a service but an application can also support several services within an organization. For example a database containing tax information on State residents can provide different services for multiple internal business units or multiple external Federal Agencies. Application Management is usually organized by business objectives that each team such as the Oracle Database team, UNIX team, and Active Directory team may support. Slide 24 An IT organization usually will have a skill assessment done to ensure that they continue to train staff to ensure the skill sets can keep up with technology trends and resource being provided to customers, and business partners. These skill-sets allow the IT organization to provide overlap in planning, implementing, and maintaining the software applications. Training also allows staff to meet the following objectives: Provide the resources and knowledge to strategically design, build new or modified existing software applications that are cost effective Transition new or modified software applications into the production environment Implement Security software controls within ITIL and best practices Provide Continual Service Improvement for IT services and resources Perform problem resolution pertaining to software application failures Assist management in Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) Assist management in developing policies and procedures Ensure that the software applications operate within the specifications and business objectives outlined in the Service Level Agreement



Slide 25 The principal function of this group is to deliver the most efficient and useful applications in a manner that will provide optimum value to the customers throughout their lifecycle. Two Application Development groups are shown due to the sizes of developer groups in large organizations. Application Development staff should be grouped by technology skill set rather than by the application or business unit that they support. This organization provides flexibility and a springboard for later consolidation. Within Application Management, the Requirements Management Group is responsible for Eliciting, coordinating, documenting, and controlling functional and performance requirements for all business applications that are either developed or maintained in-house or contracted for with specified vendors. (Does not include unmodified, non-customized COTS.) Typical positions within this group include Requirements Manager Business Systems Analyst Slide 26 Within Application Management, the Release Management Group is responsible for Managing the overall release process Ensuring releases are coordinated with PMO and Quality Management, Change Management, and the Application Portfolio Manager Certifying releases through the test and verification and validation process and as part of the QA pre-production readiness evaluations Typical positions within this group include Release Manager Application Test Specialist Slide 27 Within Application Management, the Configuration Management Group is responsible for Coordinating application and architectural updates that impact the CMDB Ensuring overall Configuration Management of all non-COTS applications Maintaining the CMDB for application-based configuration items. Coordinates CMDB management with the Operations and Support Configuration Manager. Typical positions within this group include Configuration Manager/Specialist Slide 28 Within Application Management, the Application Development Groups are responsible for Developing applications to support business goals Supporting major project work (customer initiated) Designing application solutions in accordance with customer requirements Researching solutions and recommending appropriate solutions to customers Typical positions within this group include Application Development Manager Application Developer Slide 29 Within Application Management, the Application Maintenance Group is responsible for Providing for continuous improvement of the organization's application to ensure they satisfy the customer Managing all internally generated and user-reported bug/fix requirements



Managing minor code efficiency enhancements Managing security fixes Typical positions within this group include Application Maintenance Manager Application Developer Slide 30 The principal function of the IT Operations Management group is to provide the basic infrastructure and operating support for the IT department, to include management of almost all procured items, both hardware and software. They maintain the system by managing the infrastructure, providing maintenance to the infrastructure, and adhering to policies and procedures governed by the organization in supporting the services they offer internally and externally. Slide 31 There are two functions performed by IT Operations Management which are: Operational staff that perform the day-to-day operational control over the infrastructure. They perform specific task that include: Monitoring capabilities through a centralized Console Management tool Batch Job, Scripts, and Job Scheduling Backup storage capabilities Restore capabilities Print jobs Maintenance activities Facilities Management requiring operational control of the Data Center or Computer room to include all wiring and telephony rooms. Large scale projects such as consolidating the Data Center, consolidating parts of the network infrastructure, or business units should be managed by the IT organization. The Physical Security and environment of the spaces are also maintained by ensuring adequate power and cooling equipment. If the Data Center manager responsibilities are outsourced than the IT organization will be responsible for maintaining that contract and all its provisions. Slide 32 Operations Management objectives include: Maintenance of the day-to-day activities and processes to maintain current state of the network infrastructure to include the transition of new or modified applications into the production environment Provide Continual Service Improvement for IT services and resources Streamline problem resolution Assist management in Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) Assist management in developing policies and procedures Ensure regulatory compliance requirements Slide 33 Within Operations and Support, the Hardware Operations Group is responsible for Providing the hardware availability necessary to meet business goals Maintaining a service availability level per the Service Level Agreement Inventory, accountability, and protection of hardware and software — maintaining the asset portfolio for both compliance and reporting purposes Providing hardware and services to meet the mobile communication needs of the enterprise, including all mobile telephones, BlackBerries and Smart Phones. Managing server administration, backup, allocation, protection, and virtualization Managing the mainframe environment, including planning, maintenance, production and scheduling Planning for hardware and software (COTS) availability; infrastructure input/advice to overall architecture



Providing support for development & application management integration, including readiness assessments Maintains the CMDB for hardware-related configuration items. Coordinates CMDB management with the Application Development Configuration Manager. Typical positions within this group include Procurement Analyst Server Administrator Data Center Manager Mainframe Operations Analyst Hardware Operations & Support Supervisor Configuration Manager Mobile Telephony Administrator Slide 34 Within Operations and Support, the Hardware Support Group is responsible for Providing hardware support to meet the desktop and network needs of the customers Network administration and backup Active Directory/Exchange/SharePoint support Providing level 3 help desk support, OS/COTS integration testing and patch management Typical positions within this group include Hardware Support Technician Network Administrator Network Engineer/Specialist Slide 35 Within Operations and Support, the Production Control Group is responsible for Providing high-volume (batch) processing Balancing the work, budgeting/costing, and scheduling Typical positions within this group include Mainframe Operations Analyst Production Control Specialist Production Control Supervisor Quality Assurance Analyst Slide 36 Within Operations and Support, the Technical Support Group is responsible for Administering security, including Access control, content management, and overall hardware and software access User management, including access control – initial and terminal Anti-virus support, content management (internet filtering) and tracking and forensics analysis Firewall administration Physical security, including Monitoring the physical security of all assets Assisting asset portfolio manager with inventories and accountability Monitoring surveillance and monitoring tools, forensics analysis (physical) Typical positions within this group include Help Desk Technician Help Desk Manager User Management Specialist Security Analyst



Slide 37 Within Operations and Support, the Telephony Group is responsible for Providing end-users with requisite telephony support, including managing the work order process Budgeting, and scheduling of the overall system Providing telephony input/advice to the overall architecture Typical positions within this group include Telecom Analyst Wire/Cabling Specialist/Supervisor

Topic 2.2 Exercises

Exercise 1 The Service Desk can be structured differently in different organizations. List the type of Service Desk structure that your organization has implemented in your environment. Document some of the services this Service Desk structure provides. Exercise 2 Identify the different types of staff positions you may find under the following Application Management department groups:

� Requirements Management group � Release Management group � Configuration Management group � Application Development group � Application Maintenance group

Exercise 3 Identify the different types of staff positions you may find under the following IT Operations Management department groups:

� Hardware Operations group � Hardware Support group � Production Control group � Technical Support group � Telephony group



Exercise 4 Identify the different types of staff positions you may find under the following Technical Management department groups:

� Knowledge Management group � Architecture group � Database Management group � Change Management group � Quality Management group � Application Portfolio Management group

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6 Selected Functions