The Role of Information Technology Infrastructure Library - Essay Example

Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) was started as a government initiative in the United Kingdom as a solution to poor quality of service provided to government departments by IT service providers. Since its inception during the 1980, the ITIL has grown to a large body of knowledge. This body of knowledge is now considered to be a standard guideline for all organizations during implementation or for the improvement of its IT infrastructure. The ITIL is now considered to be the foremost model for the management of IT infrastructure by governments across Europe and other countries of the world. This paper studies the ITIL framework and comes to the conclusion that this body of knowledge is extremely useful for all organizations in the above mentioned areas. Introduction: The role of information technology (IT) in today’s world is of extreme importance for the smooth running of businesses and other organizations. It can be said the there is practically no field that is not touched by IT, whether it is in manufacturing, services, defense, and even governance. The main reasons for this heavy dependence on this technology are the complexity of operations and also due to the adaptability of IT systems in fitting into every conceivable area of activity. In such a scenario, it was seen as a necessity to standardize IT management concepts and also to formulate a set of best practices that can serve as a comprehensive guideline to IT based organizations. In the UK, this concept was materialized by the formation of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) during the 1980s. Many governments and organizations around the world have now accepted the guidelines as industry standard over the years. The purpose of this study is to establish whether ITIL provides the best practice guidelines for IT service management. The three points that will be used to establish the above is given here. The first is that the ITIL does provide comprehensive guidelines and framework for efficient information technology management. The second point is that the program can be incorporated into an IT management system either in its entirety or in part. The third point is that the program can be customized to suit the requirements of each individual organization. Comprehensive guidelines and ITIL: In order to understand whether the Library does provide comprehensive guidelines it is necessary to have a detailed overview of the organization. The main reason at the time of formation of the forerunner of today’s ITIL called Government Information Technology Infrastructure Management (GITIM) was that the quality of IT service provided by vendors to the government was poor and inadequate. The government arm called The Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) was primarily mad responsible for developing the required guidelines and framework which will ensure efficiency and responsibility with regard to the use of IT based resources. The initiative was later named ITIL and as it evolved, many government and non-governmental agencies began to accept its guidelines for the purpose of IT management. Its popularity spread across to other countries while the program itself developed to cover a wider area with respect to management in the IT sector. At present “The IT Infrastructure Library® (ITIL) is the most widely accepted approach to IT service management in the world” (What is ITIL? ITIL Definition). The present knowledge database of ITIL contains practices and polices taken from both the private and public sector and is now available in print form. The organization also has accreditation programs for individuals through training in IT management practices. By the year 2001, it had brought about a second version of its original set of guidelines. Version 3, which contains the present set of standards, was released in May 2007. It has an ISO20000 certification which makes it an officially acceptable set practices and guidelines internationally. What is quite unique about this program is that it does not lay emphasis on any specific software or software platforms, which is left to individual companies to choose. The ITIL is now under the control of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC). The current knowledge base is now available in printed form in eight distinct subject or service areas that comprehensively covers all areas of IT management. As Plant & Stephen observe, “For each service, best practices are provided at three levels; strategic, the tactical, and the operational” (Plant & Murrell 2007). The subject areas mentioned above are discussed briefly here. Service support: The primary component of service support is the service desk. This is similar to customer service in business where initial point of contact is made. The service desk should be capable of, handling queries, requests, suggestions, remarks, and clearing doubts (ITIL Essentials Study Guide: Service desk, P 4). Apart from the above, there are other responsibilities like tracking and reporting in areas like incident management, problem management, change management, release management, and configuration management. “Incident Management is concerned with deviations from, and threats to, the standard operation of services. During the course of time, even the best services will have incidents” (Spafford 2007). Problem management, as the name suggests is to minimize any unforeseen problems that may occur in the normal day to day activities in the business. The intention is to minimize consequences of any problems that have occurred and also to see that problems do not occur to the maximum extent possible. It should also be able to prevent the recurrence of the same problems that have occurred before. Organizations are dynamic entities and it is natural that changes within processes take place in relation to changes in its external and internal environment. The service support should be able to ensure through its monitoring that changes should be managed with minimum disruption of the IT services of the organization. It should ensure that everyone concerned should be aware of the changes that are being made and also understand the impact or consequences of the proposed changes. Release management is related to some extent to change management and also to configuration management. This area refers to adding of any new software or hardware into the existing IT environment in the organization. Such introduction can cause compatibility and other problems which should be sorted out by the IT personnel and the service support should ensure that this new release is implemented smoothly with minimum of disruption: “The Configuration Management process is responsible for identifying, recording, tracking, and reporting of key IT components or assets called configuration items (CIs)” (ITIL Newsletter: News & Information for ITSM). This is also a critical process because the IT configuration in large organizations will be very complex due to the variety of hardware and software used. Service delivery: Service delivery in an ITIL setting involves the following tasks and responsibilities. Every business has certain requirements as to the quality of its service to customers. One important function of service delivery in this regard is service level management. This area ensures that the IT implemented within the organization is delivering the necessary support in accordance with the needs of the organization. It also can function as a facilitator for discussions between customers and IT personnel regarding customer expectations and how IT service delivery matches with it. Financing and accounting is an important function within organizations. The IT system should efficiently manage the whole accounting process within the organization and ITIL deals with it under the heading of financial management. This area also ensures that expenditure within the organization (including expenditure and investment in IT) is justified with regard to the benefits that are derived from such expenditure. The next area that falls within service delivery is called availability management: “It is responsible for ensuring application systems are up and available for use according to the conditions of the Service Level Agreements” (ITIL Availability Management). The service level agreement simply refers to the agreement between the organization and the IT provider with regard to detailed IT requirements and service conditions. In other words, the IT infrastructure should be available to meet all the requirements expected of it by the organization. It should also monitor any future availability needs and analyze and try to prevent any availability failures. An IT infrastructure is constrained by the capacity it can provide for meeting organizational requirements at any point of time. This capacity cannot be increased easily and may require installation of additional hardware and software. It is better to be fully equipped to handle all current and future capacity requirements at the beginning itself. Another function of service delivery with regard to this aspect is capacity management. This includes calculation of required capacity, and planning so that service requirements of the organization are adequately met. It has to take into consideration aspects like normal usage, peak load usage, and future needs. It should also ensure that any additional capacity requirements if needed are met on time. Since IT is based on electronic machinery, there is every chance that failure in the system occurs, causing disruption of service. It could include hardware failures, software crashes, hacking, and other disasters that may occur within an IT environment. To tackle such an eventuality, one of the components of service delivery is continuity or contingency management. This area of responsibility deals with prevention of any such eventualities. It also plans contingency actions in case a system crash occurs and ensures that backup and recovery systems are in place so that no service disruptions occur or even if they occur, the damage is kept to a minimum. It is now common practice in organizations to store backup data in another (physical) location in case the current area is damaged by events like fire, earthquakes, terror attacks etc. Planning to Implement Service Management: “Planning to Implement Service Management answers the question "Where do I start with ITIL?" It explains the steps necessary to identify how organisations might expect to benefit from ITIL and how to set about reaping those benefits” (Office of Government Commerce (OGC). This straightforward heading simply denotes what it says. It helps organizations to get started with implementation of the ITIL program. The strengths and weaknesses of and organization in the information technology are studied by required steps are taken to correct or further strengthen the above. This area also provides the IT department guidelines on evaluating the present level of IT and IT security within the organization. This will help them in assessing whether any change or additions to the hardware and software environment within the organization is necessary before the program is implemented. Once the guidelines provided in this section are followed, the organization will be ready in all respects for the implementation of the ITIL program. The guideline on organizational or cultural change that is required especially when the impact of the implementation is large is also a valuable part of this section. Since a high level of teamwork is necessary in a fully integrated IT environment within an organization is needed, this area will help to create that atmosphere where cooperation across all departments and individuals can be assured. For instance, “it is important to remove the ‘silo’ mentality using activities (training etc.) presented to individuals with the intent of overcoming them” (Ogc, Great Britain 2002). ICT infrastructure management: Information Communication Technologies (ICT) is one of the most important components of the IT infrastructure in any organization. The ITIL program has a module covering this area, which will be very useful for IT programmers and managers. The module comprehensively covers all aspects required for a proper ICT infrastructure and includes areas like “management & administration, Design & Planning, Technical Support and Deployment & Operations” (The ITIL Framework). Moreover, the module also helps in identifying and selecting the right hardware and software suppliers. As mentioned earlier, the program in no way does specify any specific hardware or software vendors. This aspect is left to the decision of individual organizations. Application management: This section of the program is related to the software component in the IT infrastructure. Developing software is a complicated process especially in large organizations. Whereas small and medium sized ones can usually depend on readymade software packages to fully meet their requirements, this is not always practical in the case of larger ones. Software specifically suited to the business environment of individual organization has to be developed and this requires careful planning. Every single area where IT is applicable has to be identified so that it can be incorporated into the software program. It will also be necessary to integrate the IT applications used different departments into the whole system and the program provides guidelines on this area as well. In other words, the program helps find the requirements for and help to design, build, integrate, and optimize the whole software system. Software asset management: This module is similar or closely related to application management mentioned above. “Software Asset Management is all of the infrastructure and processes necessary for the effective management, control and protection of the software assets within an organisation, throughout all stages of their lifecycle” (Software Asset Management Definitions). The word life-cycle indicates that software also has a period of usefulness after which it may become necessary to change, modify, or upgrade it. Business perspective: It is prudent to implement the best practices in IT management in a business organization, but what should be taken care is that this should be of maximum benefit to the organization from its business perspective also. According to an article titled ‘ITIL Brings Business Perspective to IT’, “while just about everyone can agree that aligning IT with the business is important, few folks seem to know how to make it happen” (All 2007). The article goes on to state that the ITIL program had not given this area much thought until the release of Version 3, launched in 2007. The business perspective is mainly about managing change and business continuity management. It is definite that major organizational changes have to be implemented especially in day to day operations if IT changes its role to and is integrated more deeply within the organization. Employees will have to become familiar with hardware and software which means they have to go through a process of learning and unlearning many aspects of their job. It is natural for people to resist change and steps should be taken to see that this resistance is managed in a smooth manner. Any business can face major and minor disruptions with regard to its day to day operations due to a variety of factors and risks. The process whereby this disruption is negated or at least reduced is referred to as business continuity management. ITIL Version 3: Though many of the principles, guidelines, and recommended practices found in earlier versions are found in the new version, the general structure in Version three has undergone a change and is now found in the following format. It should also be noted that the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) which manages the whole program will incorporate any matter that will improve the overall effectiveness of IT with regard to its implementation in organizations. The structure of this version is divided into five namely, service strategy, service design, service transition, service operation, and continual service improvement (The new ITIL (Version 3). But since this has been only introduced recently, many organizations still follow the older versions because it has been in existence for nearly two decades. Qualification and accreditation programs: There are four levels of qualification levels provided by training in ITIL namely, Foundation Level, Intermediate Level, ITIL Expert, and ITIL Master (ITIL V3 Qualification Scheme). The foundation course, as the name suggests builds a grounding or foundation on the whole ITIL program. The intermediate level is designed as two streams and will enable the candidate to understand and apply the concepts into the IT structure of an organization. This course includes the five core areas covered in ITIL versions three. These five have been mentioned in the previous section. To become an ITIL expert, a candidate has to complete the foundation course, the various intermediate courses and an additional course called ‘Managing across the Lifecycle’. The ITIL master’s course which is still in its developmental stages will be an assessment of the candidate’s capability and deep understanding of the whole ITIL program. The ITIL accreditation program will give the certified person the necessary power to license institutes who are willing to provide training for the ITIL qualification schemes mentioned above. Such persons or organization who has this accreditation certification can evaluate the training institute’s capability in providing course content and the expertise to impart knowledge about the program. Once found satisfactory, these institutes can be licensed, to provide officially recognized training to individuals. ITIL guidelines can be incorporated in its entirety or in part: This is one of the biggest advantages of the whole program. Since both the earlier versions and version three is structured into different areas, it is easy for organizations to incorporate the whole program or focus on specific areas of the program. For example, an organization may already be having a perfectly designed (service design) IT infrastructure. In such a case, it can implement the guidelines given in the other four areas namely service strategy, service transition, service operation, and continual service improvement. ITIL can be customized: This is another advantage of having the program as a guideline rather than a statutory requirement. Different organizations have different needs and requirements depending on the nature of its operations. The ITIL program does not suggest a particular operating system, software, or hardware to be implemented. For example, one organization may be using the Windows environment as its operating system while another one would be using the Apple operating system. The software programs needed to run the business can also vary to a great extent. This can be left to individual organizations as per their requirements. Both the above claims can be corroborated from the following observation from the book titled ‘An Executive’s Guide to Information Technology’. It says that “The ITIL approach to service management is scalable and structured, and allows a standardized and more efficient and effective implementation of IT practices” (Plant & Murrell 2007). It further states that the ITIL which is already seen as a standard of the best practices is now getting popular in many other parts of the world including the United States. In the United States, issues like the Enron collapse had resulted in strong statutes like the Sarbanes-Oxley and the HIPAA legislations. The policy makers there feel that adopting the ITIL (or similar guidelines) can be useful in seeing these legislations are complied with automatically. Its popularity can also be attested by the fact that it is available in many European and Asian languages as well. Conclusion: A comprehensive review of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library has been given here. It is seen that the program covers almost all aspects of IT implementation in an organization. The advantage is that they are more of guideline than a direction or statute. Companies can take up the whole program or implement part of it. It can also be customized to fit the diverse needs of different organizations and businesses. It can be conclusively said that ITIL does provide comprehensive guidelines and framework for efficient information technology management. In other words, this study shows that the hypothesis set out in the introduction has been substantiated. References All, Ann. [July 24, 2007]. ITIL Brings Business Perspective to IT. IT Business Edge. Retrieved March 7, 2009, from NarrowCast Group, Inc: http://www.itbusinessedge.com/cm/community/features/articles/blog/itil-brings-business-perspective-to-it/?cs=17223 ITIL Availability Management. [2009]. Retrieved March 7, 2009, from TeamQuest Corporation website: http://www.teamquest.com/solutions-products/solutions/itil/service-delivery/availability-management/ ITIL Essentials Study Guide. Retrieved March 7, 2009, from: http://www.unc.edu/remedy/presentations/itil_study_guide.pdf ITIL Newsletter: News & Information for ITSM. [2005/2006]. Retrieved March 7, 2009, from ITIL website: http://itsm.the-hamster.com/itsm5.htm ITIL V3 Qualification Scheme. [2009]. Retrieved March 7, 2009, from ITIL Official website: http://www.itil-officialsite.com/Qualifications/ITILV3QualificationScheme.asp Office of Government Commerce (OGC). Planning to Implement Service Management Book. Retrieved March 7, 2009, from OGC website: http://www.best-management-practice.com/Publications-Library/IT-Service-Management-ITIL/ITIL-Version-2/Planning-to-Implement-Service-Management/?DI=347944 Ogc, Great Britain. [2002]. Planning to implement service management. Office of Government Commerce, Great Britain. Her Majestys Stationery Office, Vernon Lloyd: The Stationery Office. Plant, Robert and Murrell, Stephen. [2007]. An Executives Guide to Information Technology: Principles, Business Models, and Terminology. Illustrated Edition: Cambridge University Press. Software Asset Management Definitions. Retrieved March 7, 2009, from Sampartners.com: http://www.sampartners.com/assetdefinitions.aspx Spafford, George. [May 18, 2007]. Improving Incident Management. Retrieved March 7, 2009, from WebMediaBrands Inc website: http://www.itsmwatch.com/article.php/3678556 The ITIL Framework. [2005/2006]. Retrieved March 7, 2009, from ITIL website: http://itsm.the-hamster.com/itsm3.htm The new ITIL (Version 3). Retrieved March 7, 2009, from OGC Website: http://www.ogc.gov.uk/guidance_itil_4899.asp What is ITIL? ITIL Definition. [2009]. Retrieved March 7, 2009, from ILX Group plc website: http://www.itiltraining.com/what-is-itil.asp Read More