5            Glossary

5.1         Process Documents in Service Strategy

Actual Costs

Actual Costs are period related expenses of the (part of the) organization or a project.

 

Availability Management Report

The Availability Improvement Plan all planning relevant information for the improvement of the availability of the IT Services

• initial situation to be improved

• planned activities

• planned new respective modified guidelines.

Applicable Documents

Checklist Availability Reporting

Budget Requirement

The Budget Requirement describes the budget period related prognosis of expected costs and revenues of the requiring business unit respective project.

 

Capacity Management Report

The Capacity Management Report contains all relevant information about usage and performance of the IT Services and IT Infrastructure.

Applicable Documents

Checklist Capacity Reporting

Capacity Plan

The Capacity Plan contains the prognosis of the future Capacity Demand per IT Service and evaluated possible activities to provide these required capacities.

Applicable Documents

Checklist Capacity Planning

Change Management Report

The Change Management Report informs all IT Service Management Disciplines about the status of actual and planned changes and the results of the post implementation reviews and the derived improvement and optimization proposals.

 

Change Proposal for IT Service

The Change Proposal for IT Service describes a proposed Major Change, e.g. the implementation of a new IT Service or major modifications of an existing IT Service. It is communicated for evaluation of feasibility, risks and effects of the implementation prior to starting design activities.

 

Change Request for Service Catalogue

A Change Request for Service Catalogue is placed to Service Catalogue Management in case new Services or Service Attributes have to be introduced into the Service Catalogue.

 

Configuration Item

Configuration Items are the operating resources of the IT Services in general. They are maintained within the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), which itself is a core component of the Configuration Management System.

 

CSI Register

The Continual Service Improvement Register (CSI Register) is the basis for all potentials and initiatives for the improvement of the service quality over the service life cycle. In the cyclic CSI Register all activities to improve the service quality are documented.

Applicable Documents

Checklist CSI Register

Customer Portfolio

The Customer Portfolio contains information about all customers of the IT Service Provider over the customer's lifecycle from the Business Relationship Management's perspective (comparable to CRM).

 

Demand Prognosis

The Demand Prognosis provides a forecast of the future demand for IT Services based upon the IT Service Strategy, requests from the IT Service Consumers and historic consumption trends.

 

Desired Service Outcome

The Desired Service Outcome describes the expected results of an IT Services with the words of the customer. Based upon this information detailed documents describing the requirements exactly in technical terms of the Service Provider are created.

 

Forecast

The Forecast describes an extrapolation of economic results based upon Actual Costs and revenues of previous periods within the budgeting period to the end of this budgeting period.

 

Improvement Management Report

The Improvement Management Report provides information about planning and results of Continual Service Improvement for the other IT Service Management functions. It contains planned, actually executed and since the last report finished service- and process improvement activities and their expected respective achieved results. Furthermore proposals for future additional service improvement activities are provided.

 

Incident Management Report

The Incident Management Report informs all involved ITSM Disciplines about occurred Incidents and their elimination.

Applicable Documents

Checklist Incident Management Report

IT Budget

The IT Budget is a rolling business period related financial plan containing a prognosis of expenses and revenues to be expected for the IT Organization. Within the IT Budget funds are allocated to the processes of the IT Service Management respective to the organizational units of the IT Service Provider.

 

IT Financial Report

The IT Financial Report documents costs, revenues and contribution margins of IT Services, the costs of IT System Operation allocated to the IT Services and provides a forecast to the development of the financial performance indicators.

 

IT Forecast

The IT Forecast provides a projection of the economic results (of Individual IT Services or the complete IT Organization) to the end of the budgeting period based upon Actual Costs and revenues of previous periods.

 

Individual IT Service

An Individual IT Service requires normally changes of underlying basic IT Services or Infrastructure Services. Thus an important focus on the functional and organizational requirements specification is necessary.

 

Known Error

A Known Error is a Problem whose cause is known and documented including a documented Workaround (as far as available).

 

Operational Level Agreement

The Operational Level Agreement provides an internal contract between the IT Service Provider and another part of the IT Organization regarding the provision of an IT Service Contribution. It defines besides others:

• a description of the Service Contribution

• the Service Level goals

• the mutual responsibilities.

Applicable Documents

Checklist Operational Level Agreement

Problem Management Report

The Problem Management Report informs all involved ITSM Disciplines about open Problems and Problems in process and the related solutions and Workarounds.

 

Recommendation for Demand Control

Trigger for the optimization of service consumption behaviour as input for the Demand Management.

 

Recommendation for Process Quality Improvement

Trigger for the optimization of the quality of IT processes as input for the process review.

 

Recommendation for Service Quality Improvement

Trigger for the optimization of the quality of IT Services and IT Infrastructure Services by changes in

• Service Level Agreements

• Operational Level Agreements

• Underpinning Contracts

as input for the service review.

 

Release Package

The release package contains all Configuration Items belonging to the respective release. Those Configuration Items may be

• Hard- and Software Components

• IT Infrastructure Services

• IT Applications

• aso.

Request for Change

The Request for Change is a formal request to perform a Change required for all types of Change not defined as release free Standard Change.

Applicable Documents

Checklist Change Request

Service Catalogue

The Service Catalogue is the part of the Service Portfolio visible for the IT Service Consumers. It contains a complete listing of all active IT Services of the IT Service Provider including those released for deployment.

Applicable Documents

Checklist Service Catalogue

Service Design Package

The Service Design Package describes the requirements to the development of IT Services based upon Service Level Requirements. It contains the requirements from the customer's perspective and describes how they will be realized from technical and organizational perspective.

Applicable Documents

Checklist Service Design Package

Service Landscape

The Service Landscape documents the relations between Business Services and IT Services at one hand and the relations between IT Services and IT Infrastructure at the other hand. Thus it assures the logical link from Business Service down to Configuration Items. Furthermore it is the basis of a holistic Risik Management for  the IT Services with the aspects:

• criticality from business perspective

• criticality from technology perspective

• criticality from resource perspective.

Service Level Agreement

The Service Level Agreement defines the mutual contractual requirements regarding the IT Service. This contains besides others:

• service description

• entitled Service Consumers

• Service Level Goals

• mutual responsibilities.

Applicable Documents

Checklist Service Level Agreement

Service Level Arrangement

Service Level Arrangements cover all service level relevant agreements and contracts:

• Service Level Agreements

• Operational Level Agreements

• Underpinning Contracts.

Service Level Report

The Service Level Report informs about the agreed service quality of the Service Providers respective Suppliers comparing the agreed and achieved Service Levels. The report furthermore provides information about the utilization of the IT Services, ongoing activities for Service Improvement and extraordinary occurrences.

Applicable Documents

Checklist Service Level Report

Service Level Requirement

The Service Level Requirement contains all requirements to an IT Service from the business perspective of the IT Service Consumers. It defines besides others:

• service requirements

• service level goals

• mutual responsibilities

During service designs the Service Level Requirement is the basis for the service contract and the Service Level Agreements.

 

Service Portfolio

The Service Portfolio contains a complete listing of all IT Services of the IT Service Provider:

• actual IT Services (contractual requirements defined by Service Level Agreements)

• new IT Services under development

• disabled IT Services.

Visible for the IT Service Consumer is the Service Catalogue as subset of the Service Portfolio. Not visible for the IT Service Consumer are:

• IT Service Contributions defined by Operational Level Agreements

• IT Service Contributions defined by Underpinning Contracts (external supplies defined by Supplier contracts).

Applicable Documents

Checklist Service Portfolio

Service Portfolio Review Report

The Service Portfolio Review Report contains all organizational, technical and economic outcomes of the Service Portfolio Review. It is an essential input for the strategic evaluation of the IT Services.

 

Service Strategy

Systematic, cyclic and operationalized long range planning of the goals of the IT Service Provider and for the IT Services.

 

Standard IT Service

A Standard IT Service needs normally no change of the underlying IT Basic Services and Infrastructure Services. Thus the process of requirements specification is concentrating on the definition of service level goals and their control.

 

Standard Operating Procedures

The Standard Operating Procedures contain the rules for recurring standard activities of the IT Operation and the according targets for these activities and processes.

 

Tactical Charge Rates

Tactical Charge Rates are used for demand control by financial means.

 

Transition Management Report

The Transition Management Report contains information about all active and planned Transition Projects (status, milestones, finish).

 

Underpinning Contract

An Underpinning Contract is a contract between the IT Service Provider and an external service Supplier about the delivery of IT Service Contributions. It defines besides others:

• the description of the service contribution

• the service level goals

• the mutual responsibilities.

Applicable Documents

Checklist Underpinning Contract

Workaround

A Workaround is a bypass solution for an incident or a problem, where no cause eliminating solution is available so far. Goal of the Workaround is to reduce or avoid the effects of the incident respective problem until a final solution is available.

 

Workarounds for incidents without related problem record are documented in their incident record, while Workarounds for problems are documented in the Known Errors database.

 

5.2         Involved Organizational Units in Service Strategy

Accounting

The organizational unit in charge for management of profit and loss calculation and company balance sheet (external reporting).

 

Controlling

The organizational unit in charge for cost accounting, calculation, budgeting, cost control and monetary decision support (internal reporting).

 

General Management

The top management is the finally deciding board according to the organizational structure of the IT Service Consumers.

 

IT

The responsible IT Service Provider.

 

IT Operations

The organizational unit or group within the IT in charge for the operation of the IT.

 

5.3.         Involved Roles in Service Strategy

Availability Manager

The Availability Manager is responsible for the definition, analysis, planning, measuring and improvement of all aspects of the availability of IT Services in respect to the agreed service levels. He/she is responsible for ensuring that all IT infrastructure, processes, tools, roles and other utilized auxiliary means are appropriate for the agreed service level targets of availability (also in the future based upon known business requirements).

 

Business Relationship Manager

The Business Relationship Manager is in charge of maintaining the customer relations. He/she

• identifies customer requirements

• ensures that the IT Service Provider is able to fulfill these requirements based upon an appropriate Service Catalogue.

Capacity Manager

The Capacity Manager is responsible for ensuring that IT Services and IT Infrastructure are able to deliver the agreed service levels from capacity perspective in a cost effective manner. He/she is responsible for ensuring that all IT infrastructure, processes, tools, roles and other utilized auxiliary means are appropriate for the agreed service level targets of capacity (also in the future based upon known business requirements).

 

Compliance Manager

The Compliance Manager's responsibility is to ensure that standards and guidelines are followed. This covers

• proper and consistent accounting

• obeying of procurement guidelines

• obeying environmental regulations and law

• obeying other statutory provisions

• obeying other company specific regulations.

Continual Service Improvement Manager

The Continual Service Improvement Manager is responsible for managing improvements to the IT Services and the IT Service Management processes over their life cycle regarding the development of business requirements and the IT Service Strategy. He/she continually measures the performance of the IT Service Provider and designs improvements to IT Services, IT infrastructure and IT processes in order to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability of the IT Service Provider.

 

Demand Carrier

Authorized requestor of goods and services from the IT Service Provider.

 

Demand Manager

The Demand Manager is in charge of all activities

• for identification and understanding

• for prognosis

• to technically and economically influence

the demands for IT Services from business perspective. Together with the Capacity Management he/she ensures that the IT Service Provider is providing sufficient capacity to meet the actual, future and even situative additional capacity requirements.

 

Financial Manager

The Financial Manager is responsible for managing the IT Service Provider's financials containing

• budgeting

• accounting and cost control

• charging of deliverables provided to the customer.

Incident Manager

The Incident Manager is primarily responsible for the fastest possible restoring of a failing IT system in case of incidents. He/she is the first stage of escalation for incidents in case they are not resolvable within the agreed service levels. Furthermore he/she is responsible for the intake and content conforming handover of customer messages of any kind (besides incident messages).

 

Information Security Manager

The Information Security Manager is responsible for ensuring the confidentiality, integrity and availability of an organization�s IT Services, IT infrastructure, IT assets, information and data (in all ways of presentation). He/she is usually involved in an organization wide approach to Security Management.

 

IT Controller

The IT Controller is the person in charge for the responsible Service Provider within the Controlling department.

 

IT Manager

Responsible manager of IT according to the organizational structure.

 

IT Operations Manager

The IT Operations Manager has the overall responsibility for all activities of IT Operations:

• definition of the guidelines for routine tasks of IT operation (Standard Operating Procedures)

• ensuring that all operational routine tasks are performed in time and properly.

IT Service Continuity Manager

The IT Service Continuity Manager cares for the provision of the minimum service levels agreed upon in the Service Level Agreements in cases of disaster. To achieve this he/she

• arranges for risks that could seriously impact IT Services

• performs risk minimizing precautions for disaster situations by reducing the risk to an acceptable level

• plans activities for the recovery of IT Services in disaster cases.

IT Service Consumer

All (internal and external) persons or organizational units, who consume the services of the IT Service Provider.

 

ITSM Management

The group of leading persons inside the IT who are in charge for the disciplines of IT Service Management.

 

IT Steering Committee

The IT Steering Committee is responsible for the IT - Business - Alignment (integration of IT in the company business to fulfill the role as �Enabler� of the business) and thus consists of decision makers of the operational company organization and the IT. It approves IT projects of defined size and criticality according to internal approval guidelines. It defines and is responsible for

• the IT Service Strategy

• the priorities of IT Service Development

• the monitoring of realization of the IT Service Strategy.

The IT Steering Committee meets periodically and not only (but also) event driven.

 

Problem Manager

The Problem Manager is responsible that all problems are handled over their whole lifecycle to

• avoid the occurrence of incidents

• minimize the negative impacts of not avoidable incidents

• provide information about Known Errors

• document possible and implemented Workarounds

• detect possible future problems proactively.

Process Owner

The Process Owner is responsible for the friction free, economical and goal oriented operation of his/her process(es) (business process, IT Process). This includes

• securing the necessary budgetary funding

• goal oriented economic design

• appropriate procedures of process controlling

• change management for the respective process

• continual process improvement.

Project Manager

The Project Manager is responsible for planning and coordination of all resources within his/her projects regarding the project portfolio and the mutual dependencies of projects resulting thereof. He/she manages for reaching the planned project goals within the predicted cost, time and quality estimates.

 

Project Owner

The Project Owner is the person in charge for a project from the business oriented holistic perspective and the achievement of related project targets.

 

Prospect

Possible future IT Service Consumer with defined demand for IT Services.

 

Service Catalogue Manager

The Service Catalogue Manager is responsible for developing and maintaining the service catalogue based upon the service portfolio, ensuring that all information within the service catalogue is accurate, up to date and accessible for all authorized persons.

 

Service Design Manager

The Service Design Manager is responsible that new respective existing services are designed that

• they are in accordance with the IT Service Strategy

• they can be provided in an economic way by the IT Service Provider

• all accompanying processes, guidelines and documentations for the operation of these services are existing

• all required responsibilities are defined and staffed with appropriately skilled personnel.

Service Level Manager

The Service Level Manager is responsible for the setting up executable Service Level Arrangements

• Service Level Agreements (customer oriented)

• Operational Level Agreements (operations oriented)

• Underpinning Contracts (supplier oriented)

in a way that the goals defined in these arrangements are reachable in economic manner. The achievement of goals is controlled and reported by him/her.

 

Service Owner

The Service Owner is responsible for the management of IT Service(s) assigned to him/her over their lifecycle. He/she supports the maintenance of the IT Service Strategy and the Service Portfolio.

 

Service Portfolio Manager

The Service Portfolio Manager accounts for the development and maintenance of the Service Portfolio. He/she

• ensures that the Service Portfolio as a whole supports the achieving of business goals by IT Service Consumers in economic manner (business value)

• provides important requirements for the development of new respective the modification of existing IT Services to Service Design regarding the service strategy.

Service Strategy Manager

The Service Strategy Manager supports the IT Steering Committee in

• definition

• maintaining

• further development

of the IT Service Provider's IT Service Strategy. He/she is responsible for the

• communication

• implementation

of the IT Service Strategy.

 

Solution Architect

The Solutions Architect is responsible for designing IT systems and IT applications required to provide an IT Service. This includes the specification of technologies, architectures and data structures as a basis for application development or customization and the technical and organizational realization concept as well.

 

Supplier

External suppliers of IT Services, IT Service Contributions and outsourcing services, where the scope of supply is defined in the Underpinning Contracts, external suppliers of infrastructure and operating supplies.

 

Supplier Manager

The responsibility of the Supplier Manager covers

• the evaluation of qualified external Suppliers

• contract conclusions with external Suppliers meeting the business requirements

• lifecycle management of Underpinning Contracts

• ensuring correct fulfillment of contracts by the external suppliers

• review and valuation of the external suppliers' performance.

 

5.4         Involved IT Systems in Service Strategy

Commercial System

The IT System which maintains, documents and controls the financial management of the enterprise. Normally it is part of the integrated ERP System (Enterprise Resource Planning).

 

Customer Portfolio Database

The Customer Portfolio Database contains all Customer Information (thus normally it is part of a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System).

 

Service Desk System

The Service Desk System contains the database of user support including the knowledge base for incident- and problem management. Normally it is part of the integrated IT Service Management system.

 

Service Portfolio Database

Database of the Service Portfolio. Normally it is part of the integrated ITSM System.

 

6.1         Responsibility Assignment Matrix for Business Relationship Management

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