Service management is the development, provision and operation of services in IT. Service management frameworks provide guidance on service management production and operation methods.
BS 15000 is the first worldwide standard specifically aimed at IT service management. It describes an integrated set of management processes for the effective delivery of services to the business and its customers. BS 15000 is aligned with, and complementary to, the ITIL.
BS 15000 consists of two parts:
BS 15000-1 is the formal specification and defines the requirements for an organization to deliver managed services of an acceptable quality for its customers. The scope includes:
BS 15000-2 is the code of practice and describes the best practices for Service Management processes within the scope of BS 15000-1. The code of practice is of particular use to organizations preparing to be audited against BS 15000-1 or planning service improvements
The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a framework of best practices for quality IT service management - IT service management is defined as the delivery and support of IT services to meet the business needs of an organization. These procedures are supplier independent and apply to all aspects of IT infrastructure. ITIL is made up of a collection of books that describe the different aspects of IT service management. The Service Delivery and Service Support manuals are viewed as the core of ITIL which is built on a process-model view of controlling and managing operations.
The recommendations of ITIL were developed in the late 1980's by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), which later merged into the OGC. ITIL has been readily adopted and accepted as a global standard for IT Service Management since the mid 1990s.
The subjects of the individual books are referred to as sets. The sets are further divided into disciplines, each of which is focused on a specific subject. The ITIL sets and their disciplines are:
The services that must be provided to the business.
The availability of services.
This describes how to adopt ITIL. It explains how an organization could benefit from ITIL and how to reap such benefits.
This details the processes, organization, and tools that are needed to provide a stable IT and communications infrastructure.
How IT services relate to the requirements and operation of a business.
How to manage the software development lifecycle.
ITIL Homepage <http://www.itil.co.uk/>
ITIL Portal <http://www.itil-itsm-world.com/index.htm>
Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) provides operational guidance that enables organizations to achieve mission-critical system reliability, availability, supportability, and manageability of Microsoft products and technologies. MOF is based on the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) from the U.K. government's Office of Government Commerce (OGC), having been adopted and adapted by Microsoft to suit the implementation of Microsoft technologies and products.
MOF provides operational guidance in the form of white papers, operations guides, assessment tools, best practices, case studies, templates, support tools, courseware, and services. This guidance addresses the people, process, technology, and management issues pertaining to complex, distributed, and heterogeneous technology environments.
Microsoft created MOF by using lessons learned through the evolution of MSF, building on top of ITIL's best practice for organizational structure and process ownership, and modeling the critical success factors used by partners, customers, and Microsoft's internal Operations and Technology Group (OTG).
MSF and MOF are designed to be used in conjunction throughout the technology life cycle
The MOF process divides the IT life cycle into four cyclic quadrants:
The MOF team model is defined by functional roles and role clusters to meet the requirements of each service management function (SMF) defined by the process model. The MOF SMFs map on a one-to-one basis with the SMFs defined by ITIL. The MOF team model role clusters generally align with the four process quadrants of the MOF process model:
Service Management Functions (SMFs) provide operational guidance for Microsoft technologies employed in computing environments for IT applications.
Operations Management Reviews (OMRs) are formal review processes held regularly to assess performance and maintain quality in IT services. OMRs are regarded as key in improving their service management processes.
MOF risk management discipline is defined by a six step risk management strategy; identification, analysis, planning, tracking, controlling, and learning.
Since the creation of MOF v1.0 in the summer of 1999, only minor adjustments have been made to the core models in order to maintain synchronization with the service management function and product operations guides that were being developed. MOF v3.0 is the first coordinated update to the full suite of MOF core models. The key goals of the revision are to:
MOF Homepage <http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/cits/mo/mof/default.mspx>
MOF to ISO17799 Mapping <http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/cits/mo/mof/security/missmof.mspx>
Trustworthy Computing Initiative <http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=314FCC5C-CDF5-475B-A630-136A9E4BBA30&displaylang=en>