Are we working on ITIL correctly?

[Jerah]

Hi,

We're implementing ITIL in our organization. After the training and certification, we went through a lot of planning --- vision setting, selected prioritized processes, assigned process owners, performed gap analysis, went through process activities and responsibilities and then... here we are now... revised our existing processes to align with itil..

We started with defining Service Desk Program, Incident Management and now I'm drafting the Problem Management process (huh, it's tough!)..
Assuming I'll have a Problem Management process done, we plan to implement this into a pilot group..

Are we on the right track? Can we really implement ITIL without Config Management setup?

Hope you could enlighten me... Thanks..

[blackbeard]

I guess the simple answer to this is yes, you can implement the support disciplines without Config management, although you will not recognise many of the benefits of a fully joined up implementation.

[shubhendu]

You will have to implement config to implement ITIL...it is not optional...otherwise all the processes you have implemented will work in Silo's...

[Roger]

Correction... everything in ITIL is optional..

Process evidence and management only becomes when your organization looks at being audited against a country or international standard.

BS15000 (British Standard) and AS8018 (Australian Standard) are based on ITIL and soon we'll see ISO 20000.

In these standards the ITIL processes are represented - with some interesting changes.

However, the arguement of optional vs. mandatory aside - you would find it very difficult to truly say that you're working on implementing an ITIL initiative if you don't have control over your actual infrastructure items (the realm of Configuration Management).

Perhaps you already have a form of Configuration Management in place - without even knowing it... do you have a spreadsheet that lists IT assets... you can say that is a rudimentary form of Config Management (certainly not optimal - but it's a start).

Footnote:
Don't get caught by vendors who want to sell you ITIL compliant software.. there is no such thing! - you can take a spreadsheet or access database and turn that into something that could equally be called ITIL compliant.

[Guest]

Hi,

Thank you for all the feedback. Actually, we do have a certain CMDB in place in the form of user files which, some are in hard and soft copy. When I say, we're not implementing CMDB yet, we really have not taken closer look at its process but we do have our way of monitoring the IT assets.

In our processes, the CMDB is not centralized nor automated that can be seen immediately when an Incident or problem occurs. I just felt that starting CM process might prolong the implementation since this would take a lot of planning and consideration.

Our Service Desk Management Software at the moment is not ITIL-compliant but we're now looking into one. For the meantime, we revised our processes such that we look into other avenues where we can found the needed information like paper-based documents, Knowledge Base, etc.

We're looking at Maximo Enterprise, Remedy Helpdesk and CA Unicenter Service Plus. Have you worked with these software? Any recommendations or feedback?

[shubhendu]

Hi,
I know abt Remedy and CA and they both are good.Taking Roger's point where he says dnt get caught with ITIL ready or compliant softwares...thats really true.I understand that you dnt have a Service Catalouge tool which an Incident analyst can refer to to see what service is getting affected and what is the potential number of people that can be affected in Time to fix the Incident.But,you should think on the lines of having all these things to reap the benefits of ITIL
Regarding everything in ITIL is optional...Yes its true...but then you dont get any benefit out of implementing it...dnt we know the huge number of organization where ITIL implementation has resulted in chaos and fuss only...and headache to Senior Management.
Finally,on tools,I have worked on Remedy and it is a very good tool and etremely customizable.It can support most of the ITIL concepts as well...

[rjp]

You seem to be intending to stick as closely as possible to the ITIL framework.

Config Management and Service Level Management are 'foundational' - that is they will provide the operational parameters required by the Incident -> Probelm -> Change Management processes. No you don't 'have' to implement them but if you don't:

1) The matruity levels of your processes will have an 'upper limit' there will be many objectives, KPI's etc., that will just not be achievable without them. (So make sure stakeholder expectations are managed accordingly - and review all those bullet points in the ITIL chapters for your processes and make sure you don't promise the ones that can't be done.)

2) You face the danger of overloading your processes to compensate for the absence of Configuration and Service Level Management.

WRT: Toolsets - If you are keen to build an ITIL 'culture' you will want to take a look at a previous lengthy post by myself: "Tool Opinion - HP vs CA" in the Service Desk topic on this froum - includes a lot about Remedy.

NB: Depending on how far into it you are I would recommend looking into Marvel and FrontRange's ITSM - both rate extremely high on the 'ITIL' score. CA's product is also very good. (Don't know about Maxima). If you are in the CA price range, HP's Service Desk is also a highly functional and competitive product. If you are new to ITIL though I would recommend you consider an independent consultant to assist you with tool-set selection.

[itil_asia]

[y-servicemanager]

Hi,

There is no universal truth about whether you need configuration management for effective problem management yes or no. First you need to answer the question what you and your organisation expect from problem management, what do you want to reach by implementing this process. And please do not look at the goals in the ITIL books, but decide this for yourself, especially on the short term you can have parameters or KPI's defined that do not need configuration management at all. The processes in ITIL are designed for continuous improvement so maybe configuration management becomes crucial only after step 2 or 3 in your improvement traject. Every implemented ITIL process can be a gain for the organisation, even when it is implemented on its own, it all depends where you're coming from and where you are going to.

good luck.

[liz gallacher]

In ordser to gain the full benefit from ITIL, you will need a CMDB. However, trying to implement this without good processes as regards Change, in particular, is to guarantee failure! I would always recommend implementing Change management before Config (even though the lack of config will mean less effective impact assessment). Most places do Incident, Change, SLM and sometimes Problem before they can truly get to grips with Config. Config will always be a bit of a moving target. At first a simple CMDB is much better than none at all, but as you become mature, you will demand more and more from it.
Liz
liz@liz-gallacher.com

[Joel_R]

To answer your initial question… yes, it sounds like you are following the right path to implement ITIL-based processes in your organization. There is good advice here:
1) there are no “requirements” when it comes to implementing ITIL other than your business needs… try this, for every strategic decision you have to make ask this simple question… “Will this help us deliver a positive experience to our customers/employees in every interaction?”
2) Technology is not a silver bullet… you can implement ITIL-based processes with clipboards and folders. Having said that, there are some great technologies out there and there are some ho-hum technologies out there. The difference between great and ho-hum depends primarily on your needs, integration requirements, and scope.
3) Configuration management is tough, without question! Yes, you can operate without it and do very well… but implement config management and it will take you to a whole new level of maturity… one word of caution in setting executive expectations of config management – it is a journey not something that gets done by “next Tuesday” … it is a way of life not a milestone.

Congratulations on where you are!

Enjoy the journey!

Joel
_________________
Joel Ramseyer
Service Architect & Founding Partner
The Diagonal Group
joel@thediagonalgroup.com