Ten Tips for Successfully Implementing ITIL
By Isabel Wells

Organizations are making significant investments in increasingly complex IT infrastructure and application services. In 2003 the average IT spend for a Fortune 500 company was $353 million.
In order to realize the value of the IT investments being made, organizations should look to improve the maturity of their service management processes. The management and control of the IT infrastructure is a critical function and improved service delivery and service support processes will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of operational delivery.

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a widely accepted industry framework which adopts a process driven approach to developing operationally excellent IT service support and service delivery processes.

The benefits of implementing globally consistent, ITIL-based processes include:

1. Improved availability, reliability and security of IT services.
2. Increased IT project delivery efficiencies.
3. Reduced TCO of IT infrastructure assets and IT applications.
4. Improved resource utilization including decreased levels of rework and elimination of redundant activities.
5. Provisioning of services that meet business, customer and user demands, with justifiable costs of service quality.
6. More effective and better third-party relationships and contracts.

Since the ITIL framework only provides the necessary guidance on process structure, many CIOs are not seeing the improvements they expected—despite heavy investment in ITIL. ITIL deployment should be set within the context of a business or IT change program and as such, is more than a simple set of processes that can be rolled out and uncompromisingly followed.

Any IT change program will encompass organizational, process and technology elements. Drawing from PA’s experience in these areas, we have pulled together ten tips CIOs and program directors can use to approach effective ITIL implementation with confidence.

Organization

Approach ITIL implementation as part of the IT-wide strategy, and use it to guide all other strategic initiatives.

ITIL process implementation has significant IT-wide impacts; it is not an isolated initiative. To avoid both resource and programming constraints, implementation must be aligned with other global and regional programs, IT initiatives and sourcing or supplier initiatives.

A portfolio management approach should be taken to understand the alignment and priorities of all initiatives in addition to the overall benefits to the organization.

Consider the post-ITIL organization before completing the process design.

Introducing ITIL-based processes generates requirements for new functions and roles, which could impact the current service management structure. Prior to completing process design, understand the roles and functions required to support the processes; giving specific consideration to the supplier/internal resource split.

Consideration must also be given to the governance structure needed to guide and support the new IT organization. Establishing a transformation program ensures that the structure from which to hang ITIL is secured and operational prior to process implementation.

Engage, engage, engage. Continuous communication is required at all levels of the organization.

Implementing ITIL impacts the full spectrum of the organization’s employees. Because of this, it is critical to understand the impact at each level within the organization and the value each brings to the program.

Subsequently, engagement, communications and training are absolutely key to success; from the initial engagement of senior stakeholders to the manager-level ITIL training of new global process owners.

Set realistic expectations about benefits realization and establish a baseline from which to monitor improvements.

Change within any organization takes time to be accepted and implementing ITIL is no different. Implementation of ITIL focuses on improving customer service and as the processes mature the subsequent ROI will be recognized.

To determine the end result, focus the strategy and focus communications on improving service quality and establishing an early baseline of key performance indicators (KPIs) from which to monitor improvements. The chosen KPIs and their associated benefits should be business-focused and clearly understood so that effort is not wasted on measuring and interpreting superfluous data.

Engage existing suppliers early.

Existing suppliers and any subsequent SLA’s will be affected by the implementation of ITIL. The strategy for handling third-party engagement and establishing a robust communications plan must be clearly defined, with priorities focused on the desired supplier landscape.

Early engagement with procurement and legal departments will help to support and address the ripple effect that occurs right through to existing contracts and SLAs upon implementing the new processes. An end-to-end SLA will also be ultimately required to support the operation of the new processes.

Process

Identify and deliver the quick wins.

It's "old" advice, but it remains fundamentally important to ensure that the organization achieves, communicates (and celebrates) early successes.

Such an approach buys time for the process implementation and will help to gain the much-needed stakeholder engagement across the organization. Experience suggests that failure to achieve these successes will typically double the resistance to the change and halve the support within six months.

Maximum benefit can only be achieved if the impact each process has on another is understood.

The ITIL framework is comprised of ten service management processes and one service management function. Every ITIL process supports, interfaces and integrates with at least one other process.

For effective development and deployment the relationship, impact and interdependencies across the ITIL framework must be clearly defined and understood. The close integration and understanding of the processes allows for the continual flow of up-to-date, critical and accurate information that in turn enables management to drill down and identify target areas for service improvement.

Prioritize process selection based on current maturity; don’t bite off more than you can chew!

It is important to take a holistic view to ITIL implementation, however it is not imperative to implement all processes concurrently in order to realize operational improvements and a significant ROI.

Implementation of individual processes or the prescribed combination of processes can deliver the desired operational improvements. Processes should be selected based on the benefits sought by the organization and the ones that drive the most business value.

Use success as a springboard for further improvement.

Implementing ITIL is a strategic commitment and will take many months to fully implement. During this time many different parts of the IT organization will be required to change.

In this sort of environment it is important to also implement a program of continuous improvement (e.g. a "plan, do, check, react" cycle). First this will ensure that improvement is actually delivered as expected and, second, it will help to build further improvement rather than assuming the job is done and risk slipping back in to old behaviors.

Technology

Combine process and tool activities from day one as part of a single solution approach.

Implementing a service management tool will support the streamlined processes, automate tasks and manage and distribute information. Knowledge management, e.g., the re-use and integration of information, is a critical component of the service management tool.

Integrating data control processes with the tool will ensure that information is current and continues to add value to the service management processes.

Implementing ITIL is not just about evaluating and revising processes, it is about change: changing the way people work and are rewarded; changing technology platforms; and changing behaviors across an entire organization.

Authors Isabel Wells, Derek Lonsdale, and Anthea Jeffcoat are all consultants in PA Consulting Group's IT Implementation practice.

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I recently came across this post. It highlights several important points that few people use, either because they don'tknow them or because they don’t understand them correctly.

In this post, Jobin pointed out 10 features/uses which he would have used if he has known their existence. Read for yourself and decide how useful they will be in your implementations.

Original Post By: Jobin Wilson

When someone gets started with ITSM,there are a few points/concepts which if clear would make life much easy .There are couple of reasons for this -something which you think is a ‘customization’ that needs to be built,might be already existing in some form or the other or even there could be some existing functionality that would help you to build your customization very easily or even understanding them would help you to know in detail about how the product behaves
The points below were consolidated so that it can benefit everyone who works on BMC Remedy ITSM.

1.Multi-tenancy
In the BMC Remedy ITSM applications, the multi-tenancy feature is available for Data segregation based on company. Access to data is controlled by a user’s access to a company.
(reading up a little bit about field 112 would be helpful as-well).
This feature is enabled from Application Administration Console>Custom Configuration>Foundation>Advanced Options>System Configuration Settings-System Settings

2.Restricted and Unrestricted access
This is related to multi-tenancy & for restricting data access of individuals to only companies that are relevant for them.Unrestricted users can access data for all companies based on there application permissions (Say a Global Support Manager).This is configured from People form’s Login/Access Tab.Check “Unrestricted Access” for granting such an access to a user.For restricting access to specific companies, add them into “Access Restrictions” Table

3.ITSM in a DSO environment

ITSM Installer now provides more support for DSO (7.5.xx onwards).Another good thing about the installer is that it is consolidated (ServiceDesk,Change Management & Asset Management) & runs on multiple platforms (InstallAnywhere based).Enable user defined prefix from SYS:System Settings.The ‘Custom prefixes’ are one of the most important aspects of a DSO enabled environment for ITSM.Update SHR:SchemaNames in the other server for appropriate application prefix (user defined prefix).Update field default for field ID 1 to match the prefix setup in above step.For additional information,refer ITSM-DSO-Enablement.doc

4.ITSM plug-ins
Another common query is regarding the plugins used by ITSM.Below is a list of few important ones
4.1ARDBC Plugin : Provides Overview console functionality, a view of work assigned across multiple applications. Query on the Vendor form triggers the plug-in

4.2Command Automation Interface (CAI) – libcaieventcmd/caiventcmd.dll rimarily used by Requestor Console ,SRMS,TMS etc. CAI subsystem provides a common infrastructure that can be shared across applications for integration. It is a filter API plug-in

DVF Plug-ins ( These are for data visualization to provide graphical representation of data)

1.Task Viewer – Provides a graphical representation of tasks, task groups and their sequencing
2.Change/Release Calendar – Provides a calendar representation of changes/releases within the Organization.This is very important for scheduling changes /releases. Similar to outlook calendar view

5.Approval mapping & Integration with approval server

in ITSM,there is tight integration with approval server.Applications like change management have this integration because critical changes done to the production infrastructure needs to be following the approval process of the enterprise so that sufficient “what-if” scenarios can be thought about & appropriate sign-offs can be obtained.

Approval Mappings for Change Management Application is done from Application Administration Console>Custom Configuration>Change Management>Approval> Approval Mappings

Approval Process Configuration is done from Application Administration console>Custom Configuration>Foundation>Advanced Options>Approval Process Configuration

The approval processes that are configured can be based on CI (Configuration Item) and IA (Impacted Area)

Approval Rules involved in these processes can be viewed/customized from the form AP:Administration console

6.Risk Management

Risk assessment within change management helps to achieve greater productivity by combining qualitative and quantitative criteria for assessing the risk level associated with a change.The computed risk value can be selected, based on answers to a series of predefined questions.Derived risk factors are based on the historical performance of different aspects of a change. For all configured derived risks, a cumulative performance rating is stored

Original source

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I came across this video about ITIL and thought it would liven things up a little because sometimes all this ITIL stuff is so boring.

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Successfully implementing the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) requires an understanding of two very important factors well in advance.

- The most important factor is having committed, dedicated, and well trained process owners.

You will need somebody who is ultimately responsible for it’s success and who can dedicate the time and focus to drive it and to make sure it actually happens if you want to have a successful Incident Management process which is under continuous improvement, Many organisations make simple mistakes:-

- No process owner is dedicated to drive a particular process.

There is a process owner is bogged down in reactive activities or other "more important" business-driven projects, and has no time for ITIL or other "red tape".

- There is more than one process owner for a particular process - a classic mistake. The idea of ITIL is to have a single consistent process throughout the organization and having two head cooks in this "process kitchen" is sure to mess up the cake. Who will ultimately be responsible if there is more than one owner? Major companies,even those with numerous divisions spread across the globe who have successfully implemented ITIL have only one process owner throughout the company. This ensures that the process is consistent everywhere within the company. and consolidates co-operation between departments and divisions.

The primary problem here, is that companies do not want to spend the money on dedicated resources for process owners. Obviously a process owner can have a split role, doing other work as well, especially in smaller companies. Hopefully, the additional tasks will not be too tasking or time-consuming. The same person can also be made responsible for more than one process. It would be beneficial if these processes are be of similar focus. It is not unusual, in small companies, for the Change, Configuration and Release roles to be shared by one individual. In a large corporate company, each of these roles should be fulfilled by dedicated people. Companies who does not fill these roles individually are probably not serious enough about ITIL and are most probably lacking the management commitment.

Management commitment is the second and probably most critical factor.

If you are responsible for an ITIL implementation, make sure you have commitment from the top; otherwise ITIL might just become another failed IT project throwing time and money down the drain.

Just becuase a manager has stated he is commmitted to ITL, does not necessarily make it so. The manager must embrace ITIL and continuously show his commitment to it's implementation. In practical terms this means empowering staff through professional training, tools, demanding the right reports and taking action. etc. Additionally it requires the appointing of the right people in the right roles and managing by means of ITIL.

Kotter's 8 steps to organizational change is actually a good guideline for top management to follow.

Probably the most important success factor for ITIL is management commitment, although this is also probably the most difficult to obtain. Many ITIL implementations fail and become money pits for this very reason.

A great number of IT managers are under the mistaken misconception that ITIL is a wonder-cure for all the problems that beset their organisation. Many believe everything will be OK if they just install ITIL and don;t appreciate that there is more to ITIL than this. What they do not understand is that ITIL is a major organizational change, including a culture change. We used to focus only on technology, but now we have to focus on the customer.

Because ITIL is usually seen as just an internal IT department endeavor, it may only achieve a low management commitment. It must always be born in mind that ITIL is just a methodology for improving IT, and that it is not the sole or primary focus of the business.

To overcome this, an ITIL project should become a business requirement and commitment is needed from all the way to the top, from the CEO.

.

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