1 ITIL in the Real World: Leveraging ITIL Best Practices for Service Improvement at NYU Presented by Ben Maddox, NYU Information Technology Services [email protected]@nyu.edu

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ITIL in the Real World:

Leveraging ITIL Best Practices for

Service Improvement at NYU

Presented by Ben Maddox, NYU Information Technology Services

[email protected] or 212-992-9298

mailto:[email protected]

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ITIL* in the Real World: Leveraging ITIL Best Practices for Service Improvement at NYU

New York University at a GlanceAbout Information Technology Services (ITS) at NYU About ITIL:

OverviewKey Components

Putting ITIL into ActionITIL & ITS

A Few Real-World Examples Lessons Learned, Next Steps

Summary

*Information Technology Infrastructure Library

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New York University at a Glance

• The nation’s largest private University, at over 50,000 students and more than 14,000 employees

• Large and complex fiscal and physical operation

• Consistently ranked as one of country’s more “wired” campuses

• Impacted by HIPPAA, FERPA, Graham Leach Bliley and other regulatory policies

• Currently implementing Active Directory

• One central IT organization, but schools, divisions and departments may have local support teams, systems administrators and tools.

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About Information Technology Services at NYU

In advancement of the NYU community’s commitment to teaching, learning, research, and public service, the purpose of NYU Information Technology Services is

to serve,

to lead,

to innovate

with services that are readily available, responsive, reliable and cost-effective.

— ITS Mission Statement, adopted 1999

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About Information Technology Services at NYU: Structure

Communications & Computing Services

Operation, management, evolution and security of NYU's large-scale technology infrastructure providing voice (telephone) and data network services, and computing resources supporting a wide range of essential, computer-based University services.

Technology services for faculty and students, in support of research, scholarship, and instruction; Internet2 resources; computer labs, ResNet services, classes, and more; development and management of web, email, and NYUHome portal services, and of strategic technology initiatives.

Enterprise Computing & Support Services

SIS, Albert, HRIS/PASS, fame, BSR Advance, Data Warehouse, BIA, eReports, Brio, Remedy, and more.

IT Service Desk for faculty, students, & staff, and application development & support for core University admin. systems; desktop support, accounts, training, publications, directory, database, and application security services;

.edu Services Office of the Associate Provost & Chief Information Technology Officer (CITO)

Leadership and coordination of University IT strategy, policies, and services; IT-related planning, compliance, and continuity services.

— Adapted from http://www.nyu.edu/its/about/

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Enterprise Computing: at a Glance

Digital Content, ePortfolio

eServices(NYUHome portal

& email)

Incident &Change Management

(Remedy and ModTrak)

Learning Management(Blackboard &, Sakai)

Business Intelligence& Reporting (Hyperion & Brio)

University Data Warehouse

fame(PeopleSoft)

Human Resources Information System

BSR Advance(Sungard)

Student Information Systems

Enterprise Systems

Wikis

Blogs

HPC - High Performance Computing

Calendaring and PDAs

E-Vote

Document& Content Management

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Responding to Demand: The Hunt for Three Octobers

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About ITIL: Overview• Developed in late 1980s in the UK in response to

growing dependence on IT

• Now a public body of knowledge for Service Management best practices

• Helps organizations improve service levels and reduce the cost of IT operations

• A framework, defining ten interlocking processes for service support and service delivery

• Also provides guidance on IT security, business management, and other topics

• The ten ITIL processes are described in two volumes:

- Service Support focuses on management of essential operational processes

- Service Delivery on strategic management of the IT services

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About ITIL: Key Components

Service SupportService Desk*Incident ManagementProblem ManagementConfiguration ManagementChange ManagementRelease Management

*A function, not a process.

Service DeliveryService Level ManagementFinancial Management for IT ServicesCapacity ManagementIT Service Continuity ManagementAvailability Management

QuickTime™ and aGraphics decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

— Adapted from ITIL training material.

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About ITIL: Key Components (continued)

Service SupportService Desk*Incident ManagementProblem ManagementConfiguration ManagementChange ManagementRelease Management

*A function, not a process.

Service DeliveryService Level ManagementFinancial Management for IT ServicesCapacity ManagementIT Service Continuity ManagementAvailability Management

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ITIL V3: We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

The ITIL v3 refresh project is expected to begin with the publication of five new core texts with publication planned for May 2007.

A key change to ITIL under version 3 has been a focus on the alignment of IT and 'the business' and on the management of IT throughout the complete lifecycle.

ITIL v3 core volumes

Service Strategy

Service Design

Service Transition

Service Operation

Continual Service Improvement

ITIL v3 complementary material

While the new ITIL core will draw heavily on current industry practice in IT service management and relevant research. It will reflect the major changes in the way businesses buy and utilize IT services. The complementary material will make it easier for ITIL to address specific vertical markets and industries (e.g. Public Sector, Financial Services) and will provide a venue for more rapidly changing guidance around the application and implementation of the best practice described in the core works.

It is likely that the complimentary material will include both a detailed glossary, process maps and mappings to governance and other frameworks (e.g. COBIT) and methodologies (e.g. Six Sigma).

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Getting Started: Asking the Right Questions

Where do we want to be?

Where are we?

How can we get where we want to

be?

How do we know that we have

arrived?

Vision and business objectives

Assessment

Process improvement

Metrics

— Adapted from IT Service Management, an introduction, a publication of the IT Service Management Forum.

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Putting ITIL into Action at NYU

• The alignment of IT and business, mapping product and service delivery to institutional planning and identified needs, is strongly emphasized in the ITIL framework.

• Over the course of the last three years, ITS has provided ITIL Essentials Training or workshops to more than 70 staff members of our staff. In addition, staff members take advantage of tuition remission and workshop offerings in project management, service delivery and communication.

• ITS has been leveraging ITIL’s Best Practices for internal communication and project planning.

• ITS is committed to long term strategic and tactical partnerships with ITS service partners and academic and operational units. These includes areas directly recommended by ITIL best practices, such as the strengthening of service delivery, service support, and continuity and availability management.

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ITIL & ITS: A Few Real-World Examples

• Client Communication & Feedback

• ITS Services Catalog

• Ask ITS Service Portal

• Remedy-Integrated Knowledge Base

• ITS Service Delivery Cycle

• Leveraging Available Data & Tools

• Tracking Change

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Real-World ITIL & ITS: Client Communication & Feedback

• Formal Stakeholder Feedback

• Spot Surveys

• Cross-Organization Collaboration • ASAP• CIO Council• IT Support Managers• Systems Administrators Working Group• Others

• Creation of Services Catalog

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Real-World ITIL & ITS: Service Catalog (Internal)

The ServTrak data-entry and search screen: Searching by keyword.

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Real-World ITIL & ITS: Service Catalog, continued.

ServTrak records are created, updated, and edited within this interface. Note the tabs for information on hours of availability, eligibility, dependencies (with respect to other services),

and contact information for second-tier and client-facing support.

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Service Catalog would be accessible via a menu item in the About ITS section

A mockup of the web-based client facing interface currently being developed.

Real-World ITIL & ITS: Service Catalog (Public) .

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The mockup, in further detail.

Real-World ITIL & ITS: Service Catalog, continued.

Clickable link titles would launch a satellite window with the service information

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Real-World ITIL & ITS: The Ask ITS Service Portal

NYU students, faculty and staff access Ask ITS through the NYUHome Portal.

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Real-World ITIL & ITS: Ask ITS Service Portal, continued.

It is available through a channel on the Home tab, and through a link at the top of each tab.

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Real-World ITIL & ITS: Ask ITS Service Portal, continued.

An area within Ask ITS provides information about an upcoming interruption to service availability.

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Real-World ITIL & ITS: Knowledge Base

The web-based login screen of our Remedy-integrated knowledge base. The knowledge base

can be accessed from the Remedy console, from within a Remedy ticket, and directly via the web.

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Real-World ITIL & ITS: Knowledge Base, continued.

The knowledge base Home screen. (The Authoring and Reports tabs are available

only to knowledge base administrators.)

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Real-World ITIL & ITS: The ITS Service Cycle, Mapped to ITIL

Assessment

Introduction

Support

Development

Metrics & Feedback

Portfolio& ProjectManage

-ment

Change &Incident

Management

Marketing,Training, &Documentation

ServiceCatalogue

BestPracticese.g., ITIL

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Real-World ITIL & ITS: Leveraging Data & Tools

Managers and Team Leaders in ITS departments receive this automatically generated report daily.

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Real-World ITIL & ITS: Leveraging Data & Tools, continued.

They also receive an automatically generated monthly summary.

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Other automatically generated reports are mailed out daily and monthly to our service partners

in the Human Resources Division.

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Portions of the template for the monthly report that is automatically generated and emailed to our service

partners in the Human Resources Division. (Data shown is for illustration only.)

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Real-World ITIL & ITS: Tracking Change

ModTrak is our locally developed system used by ITS staff and our service partners to request, track, and obtain reports of system changes.

Above, initiating a search for changes made to the New Budget system’s online help.

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Real-World ITIL & ITS: Tracking Change, continued.

Our search results. Clicking a Change Number brings further details and the opportunity to update the record. Information can also

be exported as Excel or PDF files.

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Real-World ITIL & ITS: Tracking Change, continued.

The Details-Edit Request screen. Note the tabs for tracking line items, issues, migration & testing.

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ITIL & ITS: Next Steps, Lessons Learned

• Process enhancement is incremental - take the long look

• Use the framework to connect the dots of initiatives and build a portfolio

• Change is coming to ITIL — prepare for ITIL v3.

• Integrate support planning earlier in our product and service development cycles, so that the products we release are easier to use and support.

• Ask your client communities what will support their business and leverage ITIL to map your initiatives

• Resource limitations will impact your timelines

• Make noticeable improvements in procedures people have to follow to get ITS services.

• Mitigate the impact of service disruptions by using innovative notification approaches.

• Work with other help-providing groups at NYU to coordinate services more effectively.

• Intensify our use of metrics in driving improvements and of the Remedy trouble ticket system to track problems, identify trends, and evaluate the effects of improvement measures introduced.

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Additional Projects Mapped to Specific ITIL Areas

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Mapping ITIL Processes to ITS Initiatives

ITIL Service Support Process ITS Projects & Services

Service Desk*• Single point of contact with the

IT organization• Incident & Problem

Management is its primary process

• May also include a Change Management role

• May also have roles with respect to Configuration Management, Service Level Management & Release Management

• Knowledge base — creating & populating with IT solutions • Cross-training for more complex issues, such as accounts and

eligibility• Emphasis on single point of contact for communication • Sharing of information across IT areas• Creation and deployment of ServTrak, in-house services tracking

tool to support Services Catalogue• University-wide course-management support group • Facilitating Enterprise-wide adoption of incident management

tools

*A function.

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Mapping Processes: Service Support (continued)


Incident Management • An incident is any event which

is not part of the standard operation of a service and which causes, or may cause an interruption to, or a reduction in the quality of that service.

• Incidents are recorded, classified and allocated to appropriate specialists, incident progress is monitored, and incidents are resolved and they are closed.

• Incident Management (BMC Remedy) innovation and enhancement

• Creation of new roles for escalation within Service Desk — e.g., IT Support Technicians I and II, Analyst II

• Increased in-house training and knowledge sharing• ACD/Remedy/UDW reporting• Daily key performance indicator (KPI) reporting

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Problem Management • Identifying or detecting

system/application/infrastructure problems based on a collection of related incidents.

• Enacting and tracking appropriate solutions.

• Collaborating with IT service partners to increase problem definition and tracking

• Facilitating enterprise-wide availability of incident management tools

• Increasing use of knowledge base• Supervisory Team has greater access to metrics

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Configuration Management Provide reliable and up-to-date details about the IT infrastructure.

• Marimba deployment; asset tracking via BMC Remedy; Change Request tracking

• ITS Security initiatives for criticality and system administration• Security Architecture Working group formed• Non-ITS systems administrators forum created

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Change Management Manage the process of change

and consequently limit incidents

related to changes.

• Creation and deployment of ModTrak, in-house change management tool

• University Data Warehouse — data sharing across toolsets• Enhancements of incident management and change request

systems

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Release Management Ensure the quality of the production environment, by using formal procedures and checks when implementing new versions.

(Release Management is concerned with implementation, unlike Change Management, which is concerned with verification.)

• Use of ModTrak for documentation related to change• Use of ProjTrak, in-house project management tool providing

timelines and project tracking through completion• Technical Review Team for assessment of projects’ feasibility

and completion

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Mapping ITIL Processes: Service Delivery

ITIL Service Delivery Process

ITS Projects & Services

Service Level Management Process of negotiating, defining, measuring, managing and improving the quality of IT services at an acceptable cost

• Optimizing the use of SLAs, including reporting and notification• Enterprise-wide technical support working groups• Providing incident management tools and training for non-

technical areas, such as Human Resources Divisions• ServTrak - Creation and deployment of in-house service tracking

tool• Developing ITS operational-level agreements (OLAs)• Providing incident management

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Mapping Processes: Service Delivery (continued)



Financial Management for IT Services

Promote the efficient and economic use of IT resources, by changing over from budget-based organizations with fixed budgets to cost-conscious businesslike organizations.

• Use of “Trak” toolset to document and evaluate IT services and products

• Use of Service Level Agreements (SLAs)• Cross-ITS and business unit collaboration in the development of

and compliance with IT controls policy

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ITIL Service Delivery Process ITS Projects & Services

Capacity ManagementProvide the required capacity for data processing and storage, at the right time and in a cost effective way.

• Creation and deployment of ProjTrak, in-house project-tracking tool

• Created cross-ITS working group for enterprise applications and systems administration

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ITIL Service Delivery Process ITS Projects & Services

IT Service Continuity ManagementContingency planning — proactive, rather than reactive — with an emphasis on preventing disasters.

• Disaster Recovery planning, formal testing, and assessment• Communicating business continuity as a priority to ITS

leadership, management, and staff• Collaborating with partners across University regarding

emergency and continuity planning• Extended Service Coverage (XSC) program

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Availability ManagementEnsuring the IT infrastructure —

its availability, reliability,

maintainability, and

serviceability.

• Multiple redundancy projects for network and hardware• Extended Service Coverage (XSC) • Communicating Scheduled Maintenance windows to clients via

Ask ITS service portal• Creation of cross-ITS working group for enterprise applications

and systems administration

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ITIL in Action

STRATEGIC PLANNING

PROJECTS &INITIATVES

BEST PRACTICES

ITIL

ITIL Best Practices Framework —

may include other frameworks or

guidelines

Projects, Services

initiatives and organizational

culture

Organizational and institutional

strategy and alignment

Documents

1 ITIL in the Real World: Leveraging ITIL Best Practices for Service Improvement at NYU Presented by Ben Maddox, NYU Information Technology Services [email protected]@nyu.edu