ITIL Foundation V5.5 (Part-3)

In previous (part-1, part-2) blog sections had an overview of what ITIL Foundation course V5.5 covers and now i will detail you some more what an aspirant should know of each concepts at a level of to define, comprehend and explain them as a practice.

Unit	Content
ITILFND01	Service management as a practice     The purpose of this unit is to define the concept of a service, and to comprehend and explain the concept of service management as a practice.   01-1. Describe the concept of best practices in the public domain 01-2. Describe and explain why ITIL is successful   01-3. Define and explain the concept of a service 01-4. Define and explain the concept of internal and external customers 01-5. Define and explain the concept of internal and external services 01-6. Define and explain the concept of service management 01-7. Define and explain the concept of IT service management 01-8. Define and explain the concept of stakeholders in service management 01-9. Define processes and functions 01-10. Explain the process model and the characteristics of processes
ITILFND02	The ITIL service lifecycle   The purpose of this unit is to understand the value of the ITIL service lifecycle, how the processes integrate with each other, throughout the lifecycle and explain the objectives, scope and business value for each phase in the lifecycle   02-1. Describe the structure of the ITIL service lifecycle 02-2. Account for the purpose, objectives and scope of service strategy 02-3. Briefly explain what value service strategy provides to the business 02-4. Account for the purpose, objectives and scope of service design 02-5. Briefly explain what value service design provides to the business 02-6. Account for the purpose, objectives and scope of service transition 02-7. Briefly explain what value service transition provides to the business 02-8. Account for the purpose, objectives and scope of service operation 02-9. Briefly explain what value service operation provides to the business 02-10. Account for the main purpose, objectives and scope of continual service improvement 02-11. Briefly explain what value continual service improvement provides to the business
ITILFND03	Generic concepts and definitions   The purpose of this unit is to define some of the key terminology and explain the key concepts of service management.   03-1. Utility and warranty 03-2. Assets, resources and capabilities 03-3. Service portfolio   03-4. Service catalogue (both two-view and three-view types)   03-5. Governance 03-6. Business case   03-7. Risk management 03-8. Service provider 03-10. Supplier 03-11. Service level agreement (SLA)   03-12. Operational level agreement (OLA) 03-13. Underpinning contract 03-14. Service design package 03-15. Availability 03-16. Service knowledge management system (SKMS) 03-17. Configuration item (CI) 03-18. Configuration management system 03-19. Definitive media library (DML) 03-20. Change 03-21. Change types (standard, emergency and normal) 03-24. Event 03-25. Alert 03-26. Incident 03-27. Impact, urgency and priority 03-28. Service request 03-29. Problem 03-30. Workaround 03-31. Known error 03-32. Known error database (KEDB) 03-33. The role of communication in service operation 03-35. Release policy 03-36. Types of services 03-37. Change proposals 03-38. CSI register 03-39. Outcomes 03-40. Patterns of business activity 03-41. Customers and users 03-42. The Deming Cycle (plan, do, check, act)
ITILFND04	Key principles and models   The purpose of this unit is to comprehend and account for the key principles and models of service management and to balance some of the opposing forces within service management.   Service strategy 04-1. Describe value creation through services   Service design 04-2. Understand the importance of people, processes, products and partners for service management 04-3. Understand the five major aspects of service design: - Service solutions for new or changed services - Management information systems and tools - Technology architectures and management architectures - The processes required - Measurement methods and metrics   Continual service improvement 04-9. Explain the continual service improvement approach 04-10. Understand the role of measurement for continual service improvement and explain the following key elements: - Relationship between critical success factors (CSF) and key performance indicators (KPI) - Baselines - Types of metrics (technology metrics, process metrics, service metrics)
ITILFND05	Processes   The purpose of this unit is to understand how the service management processes contribute to the ITIL service lifecycle, to explain the purpose, objectives, scope, basic concepts, activities and interfaces for four of the core processes, and to state the purpose, objectives and scope for eighteen of the remaining processes. The list of activities to be included from each process is the minimum required and should not be taken as an exhaustive list.     Service strategy 05-2. State the purpose, objectives and scope for:   05-21 Service portfolio management - The service portfolio   05-22 Financial management for IT services - Business case   05-23 Business relationship management   Service design   05-3. Explain the purpose, objectives, scope, basic concepts, process activities and interfaces for:   05-31 Service level management (SLM) The following list must be covered: - Service-based SLA - Multi-level SLAs - Service level requirements (SLRs) - SLA monitoring (SLAM) chart - Service review - Service improvement plan (SIP) - The relationship between SLM and BRM   05-4. State the purpose, objectives and scope for:   05-41 Service catalogue management 05-42 Availability management - Service availability - Component availability - Reliability - Maintainability - Serviceability - Vital business functions (VBF)   05-43 Information security management (ISM) - Information security policy 05-44 Supplier management - Supplier categories   05-45 Capacity management - Capacity plan - Business capacity management - Service capacity management - Component capacity management   05-46 IT service continuity management - Purpose of business impact analysis (BIA) - Risk assessment   05-47 Design coordination   Service transition   05-5. Explain the purpose, objectives, scope, basic concepts, process activities and interfaces for:   05-51 Change management - Types of change request - Change models - Remediation planning - Change advisory board / emergency change advisory board - Lifecycle of a normal change   05-6. State the purpose, objectives and scope for:   05-61 Release and deployment management - Four phases of release and deployment 05-62 Knowledge management - Data-to-Information-to-Knowledge-to-Wisdom (DIKW) & SKMS 05-63 Service asset and configuration management (SACM) 05-64 Transition planning and support   Service operation   05-7. Explain the purpose, objectives, scope, basic concepts, process activities and interfaces for:   05-71 Incident management 05-72 Problem management   05-8. State the purpose, objectives and scope for: 05-81 Event management 05-82 Request fulfilment 05-83 Access management   Continual service improvement 05-9. State the purpose, objectives and scope for: 05-91 The seven-step improvement process
ITILFND06	Roles   The purpose of this unit is to help to account for and to be aware of the responsibilities of some of the key roles in service management.   06-1. Account for the role and the responsibilities of the - Process owner - Process manager - Process practitioner - Service owner     06-2. Recognize the responsible, accountable, consulted, informed (RACI) responsibility model and explain its role in determining organizational structure.

 If you have the ITIL® Lifecycle Publication Suite Books 2011 version (5 books) you can refer these topics as your ready reference.

Happy Reading!!

ITIL Foundation V5.5 (Part-2)

In Part-1, i had given the gist of ITIL foundation certification and exam oriented sections and now let us see the details and sub processes of Key Principles and Models which put together into 5 volumes.

ITIL Key Principles and Models (The Five Volumes):

• ITIL Service Strategy (SS): understands organizational objectives and customer needs.
• ITIL Service Design (SD): turns the system strategy into a plan for delivering the business objectives.
• ITIL Service Transition (ST): develops and improves capabilities for introducing new services into supported environments.
• ITIL Service Operation (SO): manages services in supported environments.
• ITIL Continual Service Improvement (CSI): achieves services incremental and large-scale improvements.

Service Strategy:

The center and origin point of the ITIL Service Life-cycle, the ITIL Service Strategy (SS) volume provides guidance on clarification and prioritization of service-provider investments in services. More generally, Service Strategy focuses on helping IT organizations improve and develop over the long term. In both cases, Service Strategy relies largely upon a market-driven approach. Key topics covered include service value definition, business-case development, service assets, market analysis and service provider types.

List of covered processes:

- IT service management
- Service portfolio management
- Financial management for IT services
- Demand management
- Business relationship management

Service Design:

The Service Design (SD) volume provides good-practice guidance on the design of IT services, processes, and other aspects of the service management effort. Significantly, design within ITIL is understood to encompass all elements relevant to technology service delivery, rather than focusing solely on design of the technology itself. As such, service design addresses how a planned service solution interacts with the larger business and technical environments, service management systems required to support the service, processes which interact with the service, technology, and architecture required to support the service, and the supply chain required to support the planned service. Within ITIL, design work for an IT service is aggregated into a single service design package (SDP). Service design packages, along with other information about services, are managed within the service catalogs.

List of covered processes:
- Design coordination 
- Service Catalog management
- Service level management
- Availability management
- Capacity Management
- IT service continuity management
- Information security management system
- Supplier management

Service Transition:

Service transition (ST), as described by the ITIL service transition volume, relates to the delivery of services required by a business into live/operational use, and often encompasses the "project" side of IT rather than business as usual (BAU). This area also covers topics such as managing changes to the BAU environment.

List of ITIL processes in service transition:
- Transition planning and support
- Change management
- Service asset and configuration management
- Release and deployment management
- Service validation and testing
- Change evaluation
- Knowledge management

Service Operation:

Service Operation (SO) aims to provide best practice for achieving the delivery of agreed levels of services both to end-users and the customers. Service operation, as described in the ITIL Service Operation volume, is the part of the life-cycle where the services and value is actually directly delivered. Also the monitoring of problems and balance between service reliability and cost etc. are considered. The functions include technical management, application management, operations management and service desk as well as, responsibilities for staff engaging in Service Operation.

List of processes:
- Event management
- Incident management
- Request fulfillment
- Problem management
- Identity management

Continual Service Improvement:

Continual service improvement (CSI), defined in the ITIL continual service improvement volume, aims to align and realign IT services to changing business needs by identifying and implementing improvements to the IT services that support the business processes. It incorporates many of the same concepts articulated in the Deming Cycle of Plan-Do-Check-Act. The perspective of CSI on improvement is the business perspective of service quality, even though CSI aims to improve process effectiveness, efficiency and cost effectiveness of the IT processes through the whole lifecycle. To manage improvement, CSI should clearly define what should be controlled and measured.
CSI needs to be treated just like any other service practice. There needs to be upfront planning, training and awareness, ongoing scheduling, roles created, ownership assigned,and activities identified to be successful. CSI must be planned and scheduled as process with defined activities, inputs, outputs, roles and reporting. Continual Service Improvement and Application Performance Management (APM) are two sides of the same coin. They both focus on improvement with APM tying together service design, service transition, and service operation which in turn helps raise the bar of operational excellence for IT.

Improvement initiatives typically follow a seven-step process:

- Identify the strategy for improvement
- Define what you will measure
- Gather the data
- Process the data
- Analyse the information and data
- Present and use the information
- Implement improvement

High Level View of Service Model/Processes for Reference: 

ITIL Foundation V5.5 (Part-1)

ITIL is the most recognized framework for IT service management in the world. Delivering a cohesive set of best practice guidance drawn from public and private sectors internationally, ITIL helps service providers with best practice guidance on the provision of quality IT services, and the processes, functions and other capabilities needed to support them.

ITIL Benefits:

ITIL provides a systematic and professional approach to the management of IT services. Adopting its guidance offers users a huge range of benefits, including:
- Reduced costs
- Improved value creation
- Improved IT services through the use of proven best-practice processes
- Improved customer satisfaction through a more professional approach to service delivery
- Alignment with business needs, including the development of a business perspective
- Improved productivity
- High-quality IT services that benefit the business customer
- A balanced and flexible approach to service provision
- Well-designed services which meet customers' needs - now and in the future
- Ability to adopt and adapt to reflect business needs and maturity.

Target Group:

The target group of the ITIL Foundation certificate in IT Service Management is drawn from:
- Individuals who require a basic understanding of the ITIL framework and how it may be used to enhance the quality of IT service management within an organization.
- IT professionals that are working within an organization that has adopted and adapted ITIL who need to be informed about and thereafter contribute to an ongoing service improvement program.

This may include but is not limited to, IT professionals, business managers and business process owners.

Learning Objectives:

Candidates can expect to gain knowledge and understanding in the following upon successful completion of the education and examination components related to this certification.
- Service management as a practice (comprehension)
- The ITIL service life cycle (comprehension)
- Generic concepts and definitions (awareness)
- Key principles and models (comprehension)
- Selected processes (awareness)
- Selected functions (awareness)
- Selected roles (awareness)
- Technology and architecture (awareness)
- Competence and training (awareness)

Foundation syllabus:

The syllabus will guide the design, development and use of training materials as well as training aimed at raising individual’s understanding of, and competence in, IT service management as described in the
ITIL Service Strategy, 
ITIL Service Design, 
ITIL Service Transition, 
ITIL Service Operation, 
ITIL Continual Service Improvement, 
ITIL Introduction and ITIL Glossary publications.

Candidates for the ITIL Foundation certificate in IT service management have to complete all units and successfully pass the corresponding examination to achieve certification.


Format of the Examination:

This syllabus has an accompanying examination at which the candidate must achieve a pass score to gain the ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management.

Type - Multiple choice, 40 questions. The questions are selected from the full ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management examination question bank.
Duration - Maximum 60 minutes for all candidates in their respective language
Provisions for additional time relating to language - Candidates completing an exam in a language that is not their mother tongue have a maximum of 75 minutes to complete the exam and are allowed the use of a dictionary.
Prerequisite - Accredited ITIL Foundation training is strongly recommended but is not a prerequisite.
Supervised - Yes
Open Book - No
Pass Score - 26/40 or 65%
Delivery - This examination is available in Online or Paper based format.


Potential Pitfalls:

- May involve drastic change in business culture - a long ramp-up
- Risk of over-engineering and bureaucratic overhead
- Baseline data is critical to analyze results/improvement
- Commitment is needed from all levels of business
- Can't isolate task to single team, committee or department
- Investment and resources must be available and costs can inflate quickly
- Must understand ITIL is a framework of best practices and not a document/bible

Agile [PMI - ACP] Workshop

Happy Republic Day Wishes to All!

I'm proud to be an Indian!

Agile Workshop:

I feel happy that i spent this weekend very useful by learning Agile[PMI-ACP] concepts through 2-days of workshop organized by Simplilearn. Sessions were very useful, made me to think through deeply in each concepts that we stepped-in and helped to come with more questions to clarify and to map with reality. Our Agile coach helped us to navigate all the areas in simple, and understandable way to register those in our mind all the time in a very interactive way. During the course we had a chance of experiencing to catch concepts by playing games, several noteworthy A/V contents, storyboard building exercises.

Though this Agile subject is not yet well recognized and accepted globally, my passionate towards learning this unknown concepts gives a way ahead to add value, strengthening skills, knowledge and confidence to compete with the demands in Software Industry of today and being in readiness for future state to practicing, and coaching teams.

Agile aspirants photo: Names from left to right - Raj, Sunil, Anand, Vasanth, Karthikeyan (coach), Balaji, Sathish, Rajesh (not in pic)

As part of the course contents we traversed all the areas that requires from the certification point of view. To list down few topics:

- Waterfall Vs Agile models

- Agile Manifesto & Principles

- Agile Methodologies

- SCRUM Life Cycle (SLC)

- Detailed walk through of SLC

- other Agile Methodologies

Out of the Box/Chair (Non-Subjective):

During the session i had observed a key prevention technique from all the participants (including me) that we took an internal break by standing out of the chair for 10-15 minutes to avoid long sitting and its impact (back ache, neck pain, obesity etc., considering the health benefits. This exercise either not discussed between us or instructed by anyone. In an average all the participants are at the age of 35+ years. In a way i was happy that i/we are maturated enough to take care of our health.

Essential Skills and Certifications

I believe knowledge is the strength for any person to compete in the world and that drives in a race of life. I have been thinking what kind of skills should i secure in upcoming days to my profile on top of the existing cadet-ship.
Becoming a certified professional in any skills yields a better visibility and a good identity to prove to be at front of the race. In a way, i searched and found various options to go for as given below.
* The details given are subject to change and please refer the links provided of their web sites for details.

Subject	Certification	Title	Cost	References
Agile Methodology	PMI-ACP	PMI's Agile Certified Practitioner	$435	PMI-ACP Home Page PMI-ACP Hand Book Examination Content Outline
SOA	SOACP	- Certified SOA Professional - Certified SOA Consultant - Certified SOA Analyst - Certified SOA Architect* - Certified SOA Security Specialist - Certified SOA Java Developer - Certified SOA .NET Developer - Certified SOA Governance Specialist - Certified SOA Quality Assurance Specialist	$775*	Courses Exams Self Study Kits
Enterprise Architect	TOGAF	Certified TOGAF 9 Practitioner Program	$495	TOGAF Home Certification

2013 - Year in Review

2013: Its been wonderful and memorable year in my life. All my prayers have come true to fulfill my wishes with a blessing of my son - "Hrithik": From The Heart. A long waiting dreams have come in to play as like any other common man who passes through his life cycle. I had been wondering whether i would be of one to enjoy the moments or would go vain ? I admit that i'm a rationalist than atheist and I trust now than the belief - The existence of God since he heard my prayers and blessed my wishes. My life starts as fresh and continuing to move freely to swing again at a speed of pendulum knowingly it does not stop for longer. I'm thanking God for a wonderful gift through my wife taking all the pain.

My Dreams:

There were happiest moments in this year.. However, I had to meet the surging wave in short time as an effect of negative karma's which sailed again in my life to prove my physical abilities. Though, i control myself to simple living of life, I had been further limited at a cost of life time which is a threat and challenge to live my life. I feel like i'm handicapped at a young age at both physically and mentally. I take it positively as there are more like me who still live to lead and prove themselves. Now, I changed my dreams knowing my limits to redefine my destiny.  Its up to my physical limits and efforts where and what to compromise on my way to shape my dreams come true.

Every guy in this world on a race with responsibilities and each one has uniqueness in their personalities. The way he/she lives of stages - Simple, Icon, Star and Legend. I failed to stay/achieve my childhood dream being on 2nd stage since i could not keep/do my responsibilities. The question to me is will i move ahead to 3rd stage in near future by stepping through each stage again successfully? My Heart says Why Not? You can do it but my Mind reminds me that i'm handicapped. I know i have to control my mind first to shout at: "Hey Listen To My Heart! and I have all the Guts to DO IT!"

Successful Life Thoughts! Very Much Inspiring!!

Now this is your time.. To do something with your LIFE.
Think about yourself..
Think about your FUTURE.
Start to realize your DREAMS.. and make your life SUCCESSFUL.
Just make the first STEP.. make the most logical CHOICE and then MOVE ON with your life.
Strive to realize your full POTENTIAL.
Everyday there's an OPPORTUNITY waiting to be discovered.
if you believe in something..just GO for it.
Spread your wings and soar high and don't be afraid to fall.
Remember - ACTION is a key to success.
Think what you want to do.. get STARTED.. and DO IT WELL.
Be not afraid to make a CHANGE. Make a difference in everything you do.
set your own GOALS.. work hard.. overcome every obstacle.
Turn the impossible into POSSIBLE success.
WIN your life RACE!

My Promise: 

Last but not the least.. I have been away from my blogs this year.. I promise that i'm back now to share effective and valuable blogging continuously and frequently with interesting subjects from now on.

My New Year Wishes to All!

As the New Year dawns..
May it bring for you promises of..
New DREAMS to FULFILL,
New GOALS to REACH and
New JOYS to DISCOVER!

2014: Happy New Year to you and your Family!

Jai Hind!

Six Methods for Prioritising Projects

Six methods for prioritising projects

Net Present Value (NPV): Much favoured by the public sector to compare the discounted value of a stream of future costs or benefits, this defines the difference between the present value of a stream of costs (NPC) and a stream of benefits. A positive NPV would indicate that a project should be profitable and pursued whilst a negative value would indicate that the project should be abandoned.

Payback Period: By using this fairly straightforward method, managers can calculate how long it will take for project benefits to match cost, that is, recoup the initial cost. Projects with a quick payback period are naturally more appealing than those with a longer payback period during which more can go wrong; all the time bearing in mind that a fast payback period does not guarantee a higher rate of return. It is worth noting that whilst payback’s simplicity is its strength, some might consider it over-simplistic to be used alone.

Internal Rate of Return (IRR): This calculates the estimated rate of return of a project, with a higher rate of return making investment more probable. Organisations will generally set a minimum rate of return below which they will not normally consider a project.

Earned Value Analysis (EVA): Viewed with caution by some because it is associated with large projects and requires, amongst other things, a culture of reporting within a company, this can be a helpful technique. Organisations can manage and measure a project to get an integrated view of its cost, spend and progress so allowing them to estimate resources that will have been used at completion. Managers can use EVA to help them keep an eye on project performance and correct variances, put a project on ice or ditch it if necessary.

Balanced Scorecard (BSC): Organisations employ this to align vision with business activities by viewing the company from four perspectives. For a financial perspective companies might look at everything from return on investment to cash flow. To gain a perspective on internal business processes managers might assess factors such as process automation or alignment. To realize high customer satisfaction levels factors like customer retention rate might be examined. Through the learning and growth angle firms can focus on areas such as employee expertise and job satisfaction.

Business Case: The Business Case provides a programme or project with its raison detre and is an important component of both PRINCE2 and Managing Successful Programmes. It outlines reasons for investing in a project, furnishes a framework for bringing about business change and runs for the life of the project to ensure that it stays on track. A detailed Business Case has five main parts. Strategic fit considers issues such as business need and strategic benefits; options appraisal focuses on benefits and risk quantification and sensitivity analysis, and similar; evaluating a project’s commercial aspects would involve scrutinizing the financial case and looking at areas such as implementation timescales; an assessment of affordability centres on the financial aspect too this time focussing on things like budget based on whole life costs; decisions about the final ingredient, achievability of a project, would require an in-depth look at, for example, similar projects, project roles, procurement and, in short, the project management case.