Capacity Management Handbook: Monitor, Analyze, Tune, Manage Demand and Plan Your Organization's IT Capacity Demands Best Practices Handbook - Ready to use bringing Theory into Action
Notice of Rights: Copyright © The Art Of Service. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Notice of Liability: The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor the publisher shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the products described in it. Trademarks: Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and the publisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book. ITIL® is a Registered Community Trade Mark of OGC (Office of Government Commerce, London, UK), and is Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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Capacity Management Workbook
Table of Contents 1
INTRODUCTION ROADMAP ................................................................................................... 5
2
CAPACITY MANAGEMENT ..................................................................................................... 9
3
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS ................................................................................................ 39
3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9
OBJECTIVES AND GOALS........................................................................................................... 41 TYPICAL CONTENTS OF A RECOVERY PLAN ............................................................................ 45 POLICIES, OBJECTIVES & SCOPE ............................................................................................. 49 BUSINESS JUSTIFICATION DOCUMENT ..................................................................................... 53 BUSINESS AND IT SERVICE MAPPING ....................................................................................... 59 ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES...................................................................................................... 75 REPORTS, KPIS AND OTHER METRICS ..................................................................................... 77 COMMUNICATION PLAN.............................................................................................................. 83 CAPACITY MANAGEMENT PROCESS MANAGER ....................................................................... 89
4
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN – PROJECT PLAN................................................................... 93
5
FURTHER INFORMATION ................................................................................................... 103
3
Also from Emereo Publishing:
ITIL Practitioner Plan and Improve (IPPI) All-in-One Exam Guide and Certification Work Book: IT Service Management with Availability Management, Capacity Management and Disaster Recovery, IT Service Continuity Management Thorough coverage of all ITIL Practitioner Plan and Improve (IPPI) exam domains including Availability and Capacity Management, Disaster Recovery, learning objectives, exam tips, practice questions and in-depth explanations, fully revised for the latest exam release.
Capacity Management Workbook
1
INTRODUCTION ROADMAP
Many organizations are looking to implement a Capacity Management as a way to improve the structure and quality of the business. This document describes the contents of the Capacity Management Workbook. The information found within the book is based on the ITIL Version 3 framework, specifically the Service Design phase which incorporates the updated ITIL version 3 Capacity Management process.
The Workbook is designed to answer a lot of the questions that Capacity Management process raises and provides you with useful guides and templates.
The supporting documents will help you identify the areas within your organization that require the most activity in terms of change and improvement.
Presentations can be used to educate or be used as the basis for management presentations or when making business cases for Capacity Management implementation.
The additional information and bonus resources will enable you to improve your organizations methodology knowledge base.
The Workbook serves to act as a starting point. It will give you a clear path to travel. It is designed to be a valuable source of information and activities.
The Capacity Management Workbook:
Flows logically, Is scalable, Provides presentations, templates and documents, Saves you time.
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Step 1
Start by reviewing the PowerPoint presentation: •
Capacity Management
This presentation provides a detailed and comprehensive overview of Capacity Management in the specialist areas of ITIL Version3. It will give you a good knowledge and understanding of all the terms, activities and concepts required within the Capacity Management process. It can also be used as the basis for management presentations or when making a formal business case for Capacity Management implementation. Make sure you pay close attention to the notes pages, as well as the slides, as references to further documents and resources are highlighted here.
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Step 2
If you did not look at the supporting documents and resources when prompted during the PowerPoint presentation, do this now.
Below is an itemized list of the supporting documents and resources for easy reference. You can use these documents and resources within your own organization or as a template to help you in prepare your own bespoke documentation. •
ITIL V3 Capacity Management Presentation
•
Objectives and Goals
•
Typical Contents of a Capacity Plan
•
Policies, Objectives and Scope
•
Business Justification Document
•
Business and IT Service Mapping
•
Roles and Responsibilities
•
Reports, KPIs and other Metrics
•
Communication Plan
•
Capacity Management Process Manager
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Step 3
Alternatively, continue by working through the Capacity Management Implementation & Project Plan with the focus on your organization. This will help you ascertain the Capacity Management maturity for your organization. You will able to identify gaps and areas of attention and/or improvement.
The supporting documents and bonus resources found within the book will help you fill these gaps by giving you a focused, practical and user-friendly approach to Capacity Management.
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2
CAPACITY MANAGEMENT
Capacity Management is a process that extends across the Service Lifecycle. A key success factor in managing capacity is ensuring it is considered during the design stage.
An Objectives and Goals document can be found on page 41.
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Essentially it is a balancing act of cost against capacity, (ensuring cost effective purchases for business capacity needs).
The scope of Capacity Management encompasses operational and development environments including ALL: •
Hardware
•
Software
•
Peripherals
•
Scheduling of HR, Staffing level, skill levels and capability levels are included in scope of Capacity Management.
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The purpose of Capacity Management is to provide a point of focus and management for all capacity and performance related issues, relating to both services and resources.
Typical Contents of a Capacity Plan can be found on page 45.
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Capacity Management should also consider space planning and environmental system capacity as well as certain aspects of human resources, but only where a lack of human resources could result in a breach of SLA and OLA targets, a delay in the end-to-end performance or service response time, or an inability to meet future commitments and plans.
There is a Policies, Objectives and Scope document available on page 49.
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In conjunction with the business and their plans, Capacity Management provides a Capacity Plan that outline the IT resources and funding needed to support the business plan, together with a cost justification of that expenditure.
For more information on value, there is a Business Justification Document available on page 53.
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Capacity Management is essentially a balancing act: •
Balancing cost against resources needed: the need to ensure that processing capacity that is purchased is cost-justifiable in terms of business need, and the need to make the most efficient use of those resources.
•
Balancing supply against demand: the need to ensure that the available supply of IT processing power matches the demands made on it by the business, both now and in the future. It may also be necessary to manage or influence the demand for a particular resource.
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Capacity Management has 3 sub-processes:
Business Capacity Management: •
Manage Capacity to meet future business requirements for IT
•
services
•
Plan and implement sufficient capacity in an appropriate timescale
•
Should be included in Change Management and Project management
•
activities
Service Capacity Management •
Focus on managing ongoing service performance as
•
detailed in SLA or SLR
•
Establish baselines and profiles of use of Services
Component Capacity Management •
Identify and manage each of the components of the IT Infrastructure
•
E.g. CPU, memory, disks, network bandwidth
•
Evaluates NEW technology
•
Load balances across resources
•
All 3 components collate their data and report to SLM.
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continued…
More information on Business and IT Service Mapping can be found on page 59.
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Capacity Management Information System: a virtual repository of all Capacity Management data, usually stored in multiple physical locations, holds business, service, technical, financial, and utilisation data. Used for reports, forecasts etc.
Capacity Planning: Analysing the current situation and predicting the future use of the IT infrastructure and resources needed to meet the expected demand for IT Services.
Forecast & Predictive Reports: These will be used by all areas to analyse, predict and forecast particular business and IT scenarios and their potential IT solutions.
Performance Monitoring: Measuring, monitoring, and tuning the performance of IT Infrastructure components.
Exception Reports: Reports that show management and technical staff when the capacity and performance of a particular component or service becomes unacceptable are also a required form of analysis of capacity data.
Tuning: Identify areas of IT infrastructure that could be better utilized
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continued…
Baselining: First stage of Modelling is to create a baseline model that reflects accurately the performance that is being achieved. This can then be used at a later point for an accurate comparison.
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This graph represents the consequences of reactive behavior in managing capacity.
Diagonal solid line represents the typical capacity needs of an organization over time.
The dotted line represents the Ideal management of capacity to meet the organization’s needs.
The Horizontal lines depicts the reactive approach, whereby $$ are put into resolving capacity issues, only when it becomes an issue. This goes well until the next major incident, and more reactive $$ are injected to try and “fix” the capacity issues, rather than addressing the issue in a proactive manner.
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Capacity Management consists of 7 main activities. •
Performance Monitoring - Measuring, monitoring, and tuning the performance of IT Infrastructure components.
•
Demand Management - Aims to influence the demand on capacity. It is about moving demand. Capacity Management has a close relationship with the SS phase, especially with Demand Management.
•
Application Sizing - Determining the hardware or network capacity to support new or modified applications and the predicted workload
•
Modeling - Used to forecast the behaviour of the infrastructure.
•
Storage of Capacity Management Data
•
Capacity Planning
•
Reporting
More information on Roles and Responsibilities can be found on page 75.
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Typical monitored date would include: •
Processor utilization
•
Memory utilization
•
% processor per transaction type
•
I O rates
•
Queue lengths
•
Disk utilization
•
Transaction rates
•
Response times
•
Database usage
•
Index usage
•
Hit rates
•
Concurrent user numbers
•
Network traffic rates.
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In some cases, a combination of a number of systems may be used. The monitoring of response times is a complex process even if it is an in-house service running on a private network. If this is an external internet service, the process is much more complex because of the sheer number of different organizations and technologies involved.
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Also the data can be used to predict future resource usage, or to monitor actual business growth against predicted growth.
Analysis of the data may identify issues such as: •
‘Bottlenecks’ or ‘hot spots’ within the infrastructure
•
Inappropriate distribution of workload across available resources
•
Inappropriate database indexing
•
Inefficiencies in the application design
•
Unexpected increase in workloads or transaction rates
•
Inefficient scheduling or memory usage.
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Tuning techniques that are of assistance include: •
Balancing workloads and traffic
•
Balancing disc traffic
•
Definition of an affective locking strategy that specifies when locks are necessary and the appropriate level.
•
Efficient use of memory.
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However, care must be taken when setting thresholds, because many thresholds are dependent on the work being run on the particular component.
The management and control of service and component thresholds is fundamental to the effective delivery of services to meet their agreed service levels. It ensures that all service and component thresholds are maintained at the appropriate levels and are continuously, automatically monitored, and alerts and warnings generated when breaches occur. Whenever monitored thresholds are breached or threatened, then alarms are raised and breaches, warnings and exception reports are produced.
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The influence on services that are running could be exercised by: •
Physical constraints
•
Financial constraints
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Different types of modeling range from making estimates base on experience and current resource utilization information, to pilot studies, prototypes and full-scale benchmarks. With all types of modeling, similar level of accuracy can be obtained, but all are totally dependent on the skill of the person constructing the model and the information used to create it.
The first stage of modeling is to create a baseline model that reflects accurately the performance that is being achieved.
Trend analysis can be done on the resource utilization and service performance information that had been collected b y the Capacity Management process.
Analytical models are representation of behavior of computer systems mathematical techniques, This technique requires less time and effort than simulation modeling, but is typically less accurate.
Simulation modeling involves modeling of discrete events e.g. transaction arrival rates, against a given hardware configuration. This type of modeling can be very accurate in sizing new applications, but can be time consuming and therefore costly.
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The primary objective of application sizing is to estimate the resource requirements to support a proposed change to an existing service or the implementation of a new service, to ensure that it meets its required service levels. To achieve this, application sizing has to be an integral part of the Service Lifecycle.
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The Capacity Management Information System (CMIS) is key to the success of the process and is a logical database (NOT necessarily ONE physical DB)
The CMIS contains much more than just technical data:
Business Data: Used to forecast and validate how changes in business drivers affect performance and capacity
Service Data: Gathered from resources and provides data on performance and capacity of services.
Technical Data: Performance and capacity data at the IT component level includes threshold alerts.
Financial Data: For doing cost-benefit analysis of upgrade proposals, RFCs and Capacity Planning.
Utilization Data: Utilization of IT components by time periods (e.g. second, minute, hour, day, etc) Setting up a hierarchical structure for utilization data allows for data consolidation, refinement and archiving.
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The outputs of Capacity Management are used with all other parts of the process, by many other processes and by other parts of the organization. Often this information is supplied as electronic reports or displays on shared areas, or as pages on intranet servers, to ensure that the most up to date information is available and used.
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Some of the Key Performance Indicators and metrics can be used to judge the effectiveness and efficiency of the Capacity Management activities.
More information on Reports, KPIs and other Metrics can be found on page 77.
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Point one – particularly true in outsourced situations where there may be commercial or confidential reasons why this data cannot be shared. Even if the data on the strategic business plan is available, there may be issues with regard to the quality or accuracy of the data contained within the business plans with regard to Business Capacity Management.
Point two – particularly challenging when the information from the different technologies is provided by different tools in differing formats. Often the quality of component information on the performance of the technology is variable in both its quality and accuracy.
Point three – this is a huge job and the analysis of this information is difficult to achieve. The people and the processes need to focus on the key resources and their usage, whilst not ignoring other areas.
A Communication Plan can be found on page 83.
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In addition, further risk can be added if the Service Capacity Management and the Component Capacity Management activities are performed in isolation because Business Capacity Management is difficult, or there is a lack of appropriate and accurate business information. Furthermore, if reports and information that is provided are too bulky or too technical and do not give the information required or appropriate to the customer and the business.
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More information on the roles and responsibilities of the Capacity Manager Process Manager can be found on page 89.
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Capacity Management is critical for ensuring effective and efficient capacity and performance IT Services and IT components in line with business requirements and overall IT strategic objectives.
Capacity Management utilizes information from and provides information to all phases of the Service Lifecycle.
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3
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
Through the documents, look for text surrounded by << and >> these are indicators for you to create some specific text.
Watch also for highlighted text which provides further guidance and instructions.
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3.1
Objectives and Goals
IT Services Detailed Objectives/Goals Process: Capacity Management
Status:
In draft Under Review Sent for Approval Approved Rejected
Version:
<
>
Release Date:
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Capacity Management Workbook
Detailed Objectives/Goals for Capacity Management The document is not to be considered an extensive statement as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization. However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered. The detailed objectives for Capacity Management should include the following salient points: Objective To ensure the right level of Capacity for the Business, IT Services and the supporting infrastructure through a constant cycle of optimization, predication, and influence. Capacity Management will provide a cost effective approach to managing capacity that is aligned with needs and objectives of the business.
Notes Met/Exceeded/Shortfall ☺ Dates/names/role titles
Minimize the adverse affects on the IT Infrastructure and the Business by designing for Capacity. Once developed a Capacity Management process can be used to plan for the right capacity for the business before preventing loss of service that can cause significant harm to the business. To establish efficient assessment guidelines that cover the business, technical and financial aspects of Capacity Management and the supporting infrastructure. Generally this will involve different people so the challenge is designing a process that minimizes the time taken. To develop a variety of activities to accommodate for the required Capacity of the IT Infrastructure. For example, there are a wide variety of potential impacts that loss of service due to capacity may have on the environment. If we can categorize and target these areas, then we can pre-build models for dealing with them. We call this Modeling. To establish ground rules that distinguish between Business Capacity Management, Service Capacity
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Management, and Resource Capacity Management. Develop working relationships with all other process areas. The Capacity Management process should be considered a proactive one requiring input from other process areas. Obvious links include Service Level Management (to help gather requirements), and Network Management tools (to identify potential threats to service to the IT Infrastructure). Develop a sound Capacity Management process and look for continuous improvement.
Use these objectives to generate discussion about others that may be more appropriate to list than those provided.
Refer also to the Communication Plan document, found on page 83, for ideas on how to communicate the benefits of Capacity Management.
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3.2
Typical Contents of a Recovery Plan
Introduction
This section should briefly describe the background to this issue of the Capacity Plan, how it was produced and what it contains. For example: •
The current services and technology and resources
•
The organization’s current levels of capacity
•
Problems being experienced or envisaged due to over- or under-capacity
•
The degree to which service levels are being achieved
•
What has changed since the last issue of the plan
Management Summary
Much of the Capacity Plan, by necessity, contains technical detail that is not of interest to all readers of the plan. Main issues, options, recommendations and costs should be highlighted in the management summary. It may be necessary to produce a separate executive summary document that contains the main points from each of the sections of the main plan.
Business Scenarios
It is necessary to put the plan into the context of the current and envisaged business environment. It is important then, the mention explicitly all known business forecasts so that readers can determine what is within and what is outside the scope of the plan. This should include the anticipated growth in existing services, the potential new services and existing services scheduled for closure.
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Scope and Terms of Reference of the Plan
Ideally, the Capacity Plan should encompass all IT resources. This section should explicitly name those elements of the IT infrastructure that are included and those that may be excluded.
Methods Used
The Capacity Plan uses information gathered by the sub-processes. Details of how and when this information was obtained should be contained in this sub-section. This may include business forecasts obtained from business plans, workload forecasts obtained from customers or service level forecasts obtained by the use of modeling tools.
Assumptions Made
Any assumptions made, particularly those concerning the business drivers for IT Capacity, must be highlighted early on in the plan. If they are cornerstones on which more detailed calculations are built, then it is critical that this is understood by all concerned parties.
Service Summary
The service summary section should include: •
Current and recent service provision: for each service that is delivered, provide a service profile. This should include throughput rates and the resulting resource utilization – for example, of memory, storage, space, transfer rates, processor usage and network usage. Short-, medium- and long-term trends should be presented here
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•
Service Forecasts: the business plans should provide Capacity Management with details of the new services planned and the growth or contraction in the use of existing services. This sub-section should report on new services and the demise of legacy systems.
Resource Summary
The resource summary section should include: •
Current and recent resource usage: this sub-section concentrates on the resulting resource usage by the service. It reports, again, on the short-, medium- and long-term trends in resource usage, broken down by hardware platform. This information has been gathered and analyzed by the subprocesses of Service Capacity Management and Component Capacity Management and so should be readily available
•
Resource forecasts: this should forecast the likely resource usage resulting from the service forecasts. Each business scenario mentioned above should be addressed here.
Options for Service Improvement
This section outlines the possible options for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of Service Delivery, building on the results of the previous section. It could contain options for merging different services on a single processor, upgrading the network to take advantage of technological advances, tuning the use of resource or service performance, rewriting legacy systems, purchasing new hardware or software etc.
Costs Forecast
The costs associated with these options should be documented here. In addition, the current and forecasted cost of providing IT services should be included. In practice,
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Capacity Management obtains much of this information from the Financial Management process and the IT Financial Plan.
Recommendations
The final section of the plan should contain a summary of the recommendations made in the previous plan and their status – for example, rejected, planned, implemented and any variances from the plan. Any new recommendations should be made here, i.e. which of the options mentioned in the plan is preferred, and the implications if the plan and its recommendations are not implemented should also be included.
The recommendations should be quantified in terms of the: •
Business benefits to be expected
•
Potential impact of carrying out the recommendations
•
Risks involved
•
Resources required
•
Cost, both set-up and ongoing
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3.3
Policies, Objectives & Scope
IT Services Policies, Objectives and Scope Process: Capacity Management
Status:
In draft Under Review Sent for Approval Approved Rejected
Version:
<>
Release Date:
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Policies, Objectives and Scope for Capacity Management The document is not to be considered an extensive statement as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization. However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered. Policy Statement A course of action, guiding principle, or procedure considered expedient, prudent, or advantageous Use this text box to answer the “SENSE OF URGENCY” question regarding this process. Why is effort being put into this process? Not simply because someone thinks it’s a good idea. That won’t do. The reason has to be based in business benefits. You must be able to concisely document the reason behind starting or improving this process. Is it because of legal requirements or competitive advantage? Perhaps the business has suffered major problems or user satisfaction ratings are at the point where outsourcing is being considered. A policy statement any bigger than this text box, may be too lengthy to read, lose the intended audience with detail, not be clearly focused on answering the WHY question for this process.
The above Policy Statement was; Prepared by: On:
<>
And accepted by: On:
<>
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Objectives Statement
Something worked toward or striven for; a goal Use this text box to answer the “WHERE ARE WE GOING” question regarding this process. What will be the end result of this process and how will we know when we have reached the end result? Will we know because we will establish a few key metrics or measurements or will it be a more subjective decision, based on instinct? A generic sample statement on the “objective” for Capacity Management is: The object of Capacity Management is to provide the right capacity, for the right customer, at the right location, for the right costs. This will help ensure that the capability of the IT Services and the supporting Infrastructure can be delivered in line with the Business Objectives. In addition to this, Capacity Management will perform iterative optimization activities to ensure constant improvements and alignment. Note the keywords in the statement. For the statement on Capacity Management they are “cost effective” and “right customer, right location”. These are definite areas that we can set metrics for and therefore measure progress. An objective statement any bigger than this text box, may be too lengthy to read, lose the intended audience with detail, not be clearly focused on answering the WHERE question for this process.
The above Objective Statement was; Prepared by: On:
<>
And accepted by: On:
<>
Refer to the Reports KPI's & other metrics document, found on page 77, for further information on metrics, KPI’s for Capacity Management.
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Scope Statement
The area covered by a given activity or subject Use this text box to answer the “WHAT” question regarding this process. What are the boundaries for this process? What does the information flow look like into this process and from this process to other processes and functional areas? A generic sample statement on the “scope” for Capacity Management is: The Capacity Management process will be responsible for monitoring and modeling the right amount of capacity for the following: • Hardware • Software • System Software • Etc Capacity Management will not be responsible for those components that exist under the banner of Applications Development. Capacity issues will be reported to the Service Desk, via the Incident Management process.
A scope statement any bigger than this text box, may be too lengthy to read, lose the intended audience with detail, not be clearly focused on answering the WHAT question for this process.
The above Scope Statement was; Prepared by: On:
<>
And accepted by: On:
<>
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3.4
Business Justification Document
IT Services Business Justification Process: Capacity Management
Status:
In draft Under Review Sent for Approval Approved Rejected
Version:
<>
Release Date:
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Business Justification Document for Capacity Management The document is not to be considered an extensive statement as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization. However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered. This document serves as a reference for HOW TO APPROACH THE TASK OF SEEKING FUNDS for the implementation of the Capacity Management process. This document provides a basis for completion within your own organization.
This document was; Prepared by: On:
<>
And accepted by: On:
<>
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Capacity Management Business Justification A strong enough business case will ensure progress and funds are made available for any IT initiative. This may sound like a bold statement but it is true. As IT professionals we have (for too long) assumed that we miss out on funds while other functional areas (e.g. Human resources and other shared services) seem to get all that they want. However, the problem is not with them, it’s with US. We are typically poor salespeople when it comes to putting our case forward. We try to impress with technical descriptions, rather than talking in a language that a business person understands. For example: We say
We should say
We have to increase IT security controls, with the implementation of a new firewall.
Two weeks ago our biggest competitor lost information that is now rumoured to be available on the internet.
The network bandwidth is our biggest bottleneck and we have to go to a switched local environment.
The e-mail you send to the other national managers will take 4 to 6 hours to be delivered. It used to be 2 to 3 minutes, but we are now using our computers for many more tasks.
Changes to the environment are scheduled We are making the changes on Sunday afternoon. There will be less people for a period of time when we expect there working then. to be minimal business impact.
Doesn’t that sound familiar? To help reinforce this point even further, consider the situation of buying a new fridge. What if the technically savvy sales person wants to explain “the intricacies of the tubing structure used to super cool the high pressure gases, which flow in an anti-clockwise direction in the Southern hemisphere”.
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Wouldn’t you say “too much information, who cares – does it make things cold?” Well IT managers need to stop trying to tell business managers about the tubing structure and just tell them what they are interested in. So let’s know look at some benefits of Capacity Management. Remember that the comments here are generic, as they have to apply to any organization. Benefits
Notes/Comments/Relevance
Through a properly controlled and structured Capacity Management process we will be able to more effectively help in the alignment of the delivery of IT service to the business requirements. This is achieved through the nature of the process by understanding such things as Business Capacity, Service Capacity and Component Capacity and the true needs of the business. A structured approach to monitoring, defining and influencing capacity use will therefore allow IT to spend more time on aligning the IT Services with the needs of the Business. A heightened visibility and increased communication related to Capacity of Services for both business and IT support staff. The reader should be able to draw upon experience regarding the overall negative impact on the business when IT departments have been concerned with supplying the wrong levels of capacity for services that are critical to the business. Organizations and therefore IT environments are becoming increasingly complex and continually facing new challenges. The ability to meet these challenges is dependent on the speed and flexibility of the organization. The ability to cope with more changes at the business level will be directly impacted by how well IT Departments can reduce “loss of service time” due to poor Capacity Management planning. (Reader, here you can describe a missed opportunity, due to bad Capacity Management or a process dragged down by bureaucracy)
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Noticeable increases in the potential productivity of end users and key personnel through reduced interruption times, higher levels of availability because the right capacity has been planned for and implemented. The goal statement of Capacity Management is to provide the right capacity, for the right customer, at the right location, against the right costs. By the very nature of this statement we can expect to start seeing a reduction in the cost of Capacity, which can be funneled in other areas that will help improve the delivery of the IT Services, for example:, Availability Management. Whether end users and staff take advantage of this reduced down-time is not an issue for IT professionals to monitor. Knowing that we have made more working time available is what we need to publish – NOT productivity rates. An ITIL Capacity Management process will guide you towards understanding the financial implications of capacity requirements needed in the IT infrastructure. This has real benefits as it may prevent an organization from spending money on areas of the IT Infrastructure where there really isn’t a need for building high capacity services for the business. With a sound Capacity Management process we can expect an overall improvement in the level of service as better planning can occur under a structured, repeatable process. Any ITIL process has the potential to increase the credibility of the IT group, as they offer a higher quality of service, combined with an overall professionalism that can be lacking in ad-hoc activities.
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3.5
Business and IT Service Mapping
IT Services Business and IT Service Mapping
Status:
In draft Under Review Sent for Approval Approved Rejected
Version:
<>
Release Date:
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Document Control Author Prepared by
Document Source This document is located on the LAN under the path: I:/IT Services/Service Delivery/Business and IT Service Mapping/
Document Approval This document has been approved for use by the following: ♦
, IT Services Manager
♦
, IT Service Delivery Manager
♦
, National IT Help Desk Manager
Amendment History
Issue
Date
Amendments
Completed By
Distribution List When this procedure is updated the following copyholders must be advised through email that an updated copy is available on the intranet site:
Stakeholders
Business Unit IT
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Introduction Purpose The purpose of this document is to provide relevant IT departments with an understanding of how the IT Services provided map to the organization’s business processes. Scope This document describes the following: details of each Business Process and the corresponding IT Service provided by the IT departments within the Organization: description of business process description of service business contacts service contacts Note: It is assumed for each Business Process and IT Service described in this document that the supporting back-end technology is already in place and operational. Audience This document is relevant to all staff in Ownership IT Services has ownership of this document in conjunction with nominated Business Representatives. Related Documentation The following documents may help you to complete or understand the purpose of this document: Relevant SLA and procedural documents Relevant IT Services Catalogue Relevant Technical Specification documentation Relevant Functional Specification documentation Relevant User Guides and Procedures 61
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Executive Overview
In the past organization’s IT Services have generally grown and developed into large complex environments. Unfortunately this growth has not always been as structured and pre-planned as it needs to be.
This has resulted in the IT department not having a very clear picture of all the services they currently provide with no accurate profile of the actual customers for each of these services.
Therefore it has become imperative for the IT department to establish an accurate picture of the services it provides.
This document describes an approach for mapping IT Services to the Business Process.
Mapping Business Process and IT Service: An approach
Most organizations now understand the benefits of having Information Technology (IT) throughout their structure. Few realize the potential of truly aligning the IT department’s objectives with the business objectives. However, more and more organizations are beginning to recognize IT as being a crucial delivery mechanism of services to their customers.
When the IT services are so critical, steps must be in place to ensure that the IT group adds value and delivers consistently.
In line with this concept, the first step in mapping IT Services to the needs of the business is to understand the Organization.
An organization starts with a Mission Statement. The Mission Statement for an Organization defines its reason for being. Once we capture the Mission Statement, the next thing to look at is the Vision Statement. 62
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The Vision Statement defines where it is that the organization wants to go. By understanding where the organization wishes to position itself within its market space, then we can start looking at how its short term and long term objectives align with this.
At this point we now need to start capturing the “objectives and strategy” of the Organization. By having this information, IT departments are more likely to be aware of the pressing business issues and needs that may impact on the services that they provide. For example, the organization may have an objective of expanding its business into new markets within the next 12 months, requiring additional offices and staff. The direct impact on IT departments would be the successful planning of capacity of new IT Services, the successful planning of how to change our current services to meet the demands of the business, and being flexible enough to meet these demands.
However, an objective is not sufficient enough to determine how IT departments should be delivering its services. The Organization will meet these objectives by changing, enhancing or creating new business processes. For example, Admin staff may need additional resources, a new ordering package may be required, or perhaps a new billing process needs to be implemented to meet these objectives.
Therefore, after capturing the Organizational objectives, we need to understand how these map to current business process, if the current business processes are changing or becoming defunct and if there will be any new business processes.
This is where the IT departments need to capture the Business Processes being used by the Organization.
Once the IT departments have a clear view of each of the business units involved in the business process, we need to capture the fact that the business processes need one or more IT services (e.g. CRM application, e-mail, word processing, financial tools) to function.
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Each of these IT services runs on IT infrastructure. This is where IT departments now map the IT Services to those Business Processes listed above.
With this information IT Departments will now be able to clearly see how their IT Infrastructure / IT Services supports the business. This allows IT to better deliver IT aligned Services to the Organization.
A simple model for this approach is illustrated below. •
What are the Objectives of the Organization? What are its Mission and Vision?
•
What Business Processes are in place or will be in place to meet these needs?
•
What IT Services are needed or in place to service the Business Processes?
Business Objectives
Business Processes
IT Services
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Mission Statement
A mission statement describes the reason for the organization’s being. Without an understanding of the mission statement of an organization, it becomes hard to define what it is that the organization is trying to achieve.
In this section of the document capture the mission statement of the organization. It is important to show that the IT department is aware of the business.
Vision Statement
In this section, document the Vision statement for the Organization.
Below is a text example of what may be included in this section.
<<
Listed below is the Vision Statement for :
•
Quality Care
•
Convenient Service
•
Good Experiences
•
Care at Competitive Prices
•
Service You'll Recommend to Friends and Family
These are the major goals of the staff at . With over 150 services and 400 staff, we constantly strive to provide the highest-quality service throughout the Mid-South. >>
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Business Process Summary
The below table is an example of a Business Process Summary Table. Columns and Rows can be added as needed.
<<
Process Name: The name of the process if available Process Owner: The name of the Department head or Business Representative for the process Description: A brief description of the process Department(s): The Department(s) that is involved or uses this process Parent Process: Any process that may be considered a lead into this process or is seen has having a higher business criticality Triggers: What causes the process to start? This is important as IT can then determine if and how their Services interact with other business process or external organizations.
>>
Process
Process
Name
Owner
Description
Department(s)
Parent Process
Triggers
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Business Process A
This section of the document should be repeated for each Business Process.
Department Name of the department
Process Name of the process, and official abbreviation, if any
Process Owner Name of the Department head or person responsible for ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of the process.
Description Briefly explain the purpose of the business process.
Parent Business Activity/Process Name of the parent business activity or process, if any
Primary Product(s) List the primary product(s), and explain if necessary. Identify the customer for each primary product.
Trigger(s) List the event(s) that trigger the process. (Triggers can be a calendar date, as well as an actual event.)
Sub-processes If the process is subdivided, list the sub-processes here.
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Standard Path Events/Activities List the important activities and/or events that occur as part of the standard path for this process. If an activity or event occurs in a specific sub-process, identify the sub-process that includes the activity/event. Note any locations where an alternative path breaks off from the standard path.
Alternative Path Events/Activities List the important activities and/or events that occur as part of the alternative path for this process, beginning with a note on where the alternative path breaks off from the standard path, and ending with a note on where the alternative path rejoins the standard path, if it does. If an activity or event occurs in a specific subprocess, identify the sub-process that includes the activity/event.
Inputs List the inputs to the process, and explain if necessary. Identify the source of the input. If the input is specific to a sub-process, identify the sub-process.
Secondary Products List the by-products, or minor outputs that result from the process. Identify the customer for each output. If the secondary product is specific to a sub-process, identify the sub-process.
Participants List the participants (actors) in the process, and explain their function briefly. If the participant is active only in a specific sub-process, identify the sub-process.
IT Services The following section provides a table for capturing those IT Services that help support the business process listed above.
<<
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Fields: •
IT Service: In this field capture the name of the IT Service. A likely source of for this information would be the IT Service Catalogue.
•
Description: Write a brief description about the service.
•
IT Service Owner: List any responsibilities for this IT Service. This would include the owner of the IT Service and any additional support personnel that are involved in the deliver of the IT Service.
•
Hours of Availability: List the hours of support for the particular IT Service. E.g. 24 hours x 7 Days per week, Monday – Friday: 8.00am – 6.00pm, etc.
•
Contract: Is the IT Service provided under the agreement of a contract? If so, it is important to capture any contracts that may be in place for the IT Service. Contracts will have a direct impact on how the IT Service is delivered.
•
Service Level Agreements: List any applicable SLAs for the IT Service.
•
Impact: If the particular IT Service was unavailable, how would this impact on the Business Process.
>>
This table should be used on a landscape page layout.
IT Service
Description
IT Service
Hours of
Owner
Availability
Contract
Service Level
Impact
Agreements
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Business Process B Department Process Process Owner Description Parent Business Activity/Process Primary Product(s) Trigger(s) Sub-processes Standard Path Events/Activities Alternative Path Events/Activities Inputs Secondary Products Participants IT Services IT Service
Description
IT Service Owner
Hours of Availability
Contract
Service Level Agreements
Impact
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Business Process and IT Service Summary This section provides a summary matrix table of the business processes and their corresponding IT Services. This is a comprehensive summary table designed to be tailored for your needs. If necessary add or remove rows and columns as needed. A more simple matrix may be just as effective for your needs. The table breaks down the IT Services and offers you the ability to capture the owner of the IT Service, the impact of the service on the business process and the agreed service hours. The impact is an arbitrary value that IT and the business need to agree upon. These values may be defined within the Service Catalogue or the Service Level Agreements. The table also breaks down the Business Processes and offers you the ability to capture the department(s) that are involved in that particular business process, the business owner of the process, and the business rating. The Business Owner may be hard to define in an organization, in this instance there maybe a number of owners of the process which would generally be made up of the Department heads. The Business Rating is also an arbitrary value that the business needs to agree upon. In most instances each department will rate their business processes Critical or Very High. The easy way to determine the Business Rating of the process would be to ascertain if the business could still deliver its services if that business process was unavailable for a period of time.
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Business Process A
IT Services
Service A
Service B
Service C
Service D
Owner Impact Service Hours Owner Impact Service Hours Owner Impact Service Hours Owner Impact Service Hours
Department
Owner
Accounting
I. Process
Business Rating Very High
Business Process B Department
Owner
Admin
A. Admin
R. Nerdy Very High 24 x 7 R. Nerdy High Mon-Fri: 8am 6pm A. Service Medium Mon-Sat: 6am - 6pm S. Jones Low Mon-Fri: 6am 10pm
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Business Rating Medium
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Appendices List any appendices needed in conjunction with this document. Terminology IT Infrastructure: includes hardware, software, procedures, policies, documentation, etc.
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3.6
Roles & Responsibilities Capacity Manager
A Capacity Manager has responsibility for ensuring that the aims of Capacity Management are met. This includes such tasks as: •
Ensuring that there is adequate IT capacity to meet required levels of service, and that senior IT management is correctly advised on how to match capacity and demand and to ensure that use of existing capacity is optimized
•
Identifying, with the Service Level Manager, capacity requirements through discussions with the business users
•
Understanding the current usage of the infrastructure and IT services, and the maximum capacity of each component
•
Performing sizing on all proposed new services and systems, possibly using modeling techniques, to ascertain capacity requirements
•
Forecasting future capacity requirements based on business plans, usage trends, sizing of new services, etc.
•
Production, regular review and revision of the Capacity Plan, in line with the organization’s business planning cycle, identifying current usage and forecast requirements during the period covered by the plan
•
Ensuring that appropriate levels of monitoring of resources and system performance are set
•
Analysis of usage and performance data, and reporting on performance against targets contained in SLAs
•
Raising incidents and problems when breaches of capacity or performance thresholds are detected, and assisting with the investigation and diagnosis of capacity-related incidents and problems
•
Identifying and initiating and tuning to be carried out to optimize and improve capacity or performance
•
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•
Assessing new technology and its relevance to the organization in terms of performance and cost
•
Being familiar with potential future demand for IT services and assessing this on performance service levels
•
Ensuring that all changes are assessed for their impact on capacity and performance and attending CAB meetings when appropriate
•
Producing regular management reports that include current usage of resources, trends and forecasts
•
Sizing all proposed new services and systems to determine the computer and network resources required, to determine hardware utilization, performance service levels and cost implications
•
Assessing new techniques and hardware and software products for use by Capacity Management that might improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the process
•
Performance testing of new services and systems
•
Reports on service and component performance against targets contained in SLAs
•
Maintaining a knowledge of future demand for IT services and predicting the effects of demand on performance service levels
•
Determining performance service levels that are maintainable and costjustified
•
Recommending tuning services and systems, and making recommendations to IT management on the design and use of systems to help ensure optimum use of all hardware and operating system software resources
•
Acting as a focal point for all capacity and performance issues.
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3.7
Reports, KPIs and other Metrics
IT Services Reports and KPI Targets Process: Capacity Management
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Reports and KPI Targets for Capacity Management
The document is not to be considered an extensive statement as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization. However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered.
This document serves as a GUIDE ON SUITABLE KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs) and REPORTS FOR MANAGEMENT for the Capacity Management process. This document provides a basis for completion within your own organization.
This document contains suggestions regarding the measures that would be meaningful for this process. The metrics demonstrated are intended to show the reader the range of metrics that can be used. The message must also be clear that technology metrics must be heavily supplemented with nontechnical and business focused metrics/KPI’s/measures.
This document was; Prepared by: On:
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And accepted by: On:
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Key performance indicators (KPI’s)
Continuous improvement requires that each process needs to have a plan about “how” and “when” to measure its own performance. While there can be no set guidelines presented for the timing of these reviews; the “how” question can be answered with metrics and measurements.
With regard to timing of reviews then factors such as resource availability, cost and “nuisance factor” need to be accounted for. Many initiatives begin with good intentions to do regular reviews, but these fall away very rapidly. This is why the process owner must have the conviction to follow through on assessments and meetings and reviews, etc. If the process manager feels that reviews are too seldom or too often then the schedule should be changed to reflect that. Establishing SMART targets is a key part of good process management. SMART is an acronym for:
Simple Measurable Achievable Realistic Time Driven
Metrics help to ensure that the process in question is running effectively.
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With regard to CAPACITY MANAGEMENT the following metrics and associated targets should be considered: Key Performance Indicator
Target Value
Time Frame/Notes/Who
(some examples) Using data from the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) indicate any particular Configuration items that are experiencing frequent losses or degradation of service due to capacity issues. Number of Incidents logged relating to Capacity issues. Capacity Management Trend Analysis This should be done by: • Business Capacity • IT Service Capacity • IT Component Capacity This can be further broken down by using Incident management to supply the following: • Type • Category • Priority, Impact, Urgency The average cost per capacity issue What is the client perspective with relation to Capacity of IT Services? Number of Capacity Management meetings. This will indicate a constant cycle of discussions and a process of improvement. Increased Learning and growth. This refers to the interaction with other processes, staffing, training and investments in software and hardware.
Special Tip: Beware of using percentages in too many cases. It may even be better to use absolute values when the potential number of maximum failures is less than 100.
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Reports for Management Management reports help identify future trends and allow review of the “health” of the process. Setting a security level on certain reports may be appropriate as well as categorizing the report as Strategic, Operational or Tactical. The acid test for a relevant report is to have a sound answer to the question; “What decisions is this report helping management to make?” Management reports for Capacity Management should include: Report
Time Frame/Notes/Who
The number of Incidents lodged as a result of loss of service due to capacity issues. As well as the numbers, a very concise view of major failures in capacity can also be included. Demand Management Analysis Report provides a detailed analysis of where and how the use of IT Services can be influenced. Classic areas include looking at the Internet sites and seeing which of the top 10 sites visited are not necessary to the roles and responsibilities within the organization. In the event of blocking sites, managers may come back and indicate that it does not affect an individual’s performance. This may be the case, but it is not the IT departments concern, their concern is to reduce the cost of capacity which includes the costs involved in supplying internet connectivity. Summary of capacity recommendations for the coming year. The business will interested in this as it shows a proactive approach to providing IT Services and demonstrating the benefits to the business. This needs to be done for: • • •
Business Capacity Service Capacity Component Capacity
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The number of incidents attributable to different business areas is also useful. This will help Management to understand departments that are in a state of continual disruption. Incidents can indicate poor management, fluctuating internal or increasing pressures from external forces. Service Level Achievements. These are essentially service management reports, which the business managers will use for understanding if their SLAs are being met. In addition to this, other Service Managers can use these reports for high-level process control. Analysis and results of meetings completed The situation regarding the process staffing levels and any suggestions regarding redistribution, recruitment and training required. Human resource reporting including hours worked against activities (including weekend/after hours work, for example, on call duties). Relevant Financial information– to be provided in conjunction with Financial Management for IT Services This information will include costs relating to the building of appropriate infrastructure to maintain the right levels of availability.
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3.8
Communication Plan
IT Services Communication Plan Process: Capacity Management
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In draft Under Review Sent for Approval Approved Rejected
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Communication Plan for Capacity Management The document is not to be considered an extensive statement as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization. However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered. This document serves as a GUIDE FOR COMMUNICATIONS REQUIRED for the Capacity Management process. This document provides a basis for completion within your own organization. This document contains suggestions regarding information to share with others. The document is deliberately concise and broken into communication modules. This will allow the reader to pick and choose information for e-mails, flyers, etc. from one or more modules if and when appropriate.
This document was; Prepared by: On:
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And accepted by: On:
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Initial Communication Sell the Benefits First steps in communication require the need to answer the question that most people (quite rightly) ask when the IT department suggests a new system, a new way of working. WHY? It is here that we need to promote and sell the benefits. However, be cautious of using generic words. Cite specific examples from your own organization that the reader will be able to relate to.
Generic Benefit statements
Specific Organizational example
Improved Customer Service Reduction in the number of Incidents
This is important because… In recent times our incidents within IT have… Apart from the obvious benefits, the IT department in recent times has… A recent example of … saw the individual and others in the company start to…
Provides quicker resolution of Incidents Improved Organizational learning
The above Communication module (or elements of) was/were distributed; To: On:
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By: On:
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Capacity Management Goal The Goal of Capacity Management The Goal of Capacity Management can be promoted in the following manner. Official Goal Statement: To provide the right capacity, for the right customers, at the right location, against the right costs. •
High visibility and wide channels of communication are essential in this process. Gather specific Capacity Requirements from nominated personnel
(Special Tip: Beware of using only Managers to gain information from, as the resistance factor will be high) •
Oversee the monitoring of process to ensure that the business needs of IT are not impacted, but taking into account that changes are required to ensure continued high levels of IT Service Delivery and Support Capacity.
•
Provide relevant reports to nominated personnel.
(Special Tip: Beware of reporting only to Managers. If you speak to a lot of people regarding Service Support and Delivery then you need to establish ways to report to these people the outcomes and progress of the discussions). Always bear in mind the “so what” factor when discussing areas like goals and objectives. If you cannot honestly and sensibly answer the question “so what” – then you are not selling the message in a way that is personal to the listener and gets their “buy-in”.
The above Capacity Management Goals module was distributed; To: On:
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By: On:
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Capacity Management Activities Intrusive & Hidden Activities The list of actions in this module will have a direct impact on end users and IT Staff. They will be curious as to why staff are working with them in this manner, rather than the historical method of just “doing it”. There could be an element of suspicion and resistance, so consider different strategies to overcome this initial skepticism. Business Capacity Management • Interview and record the needs from the Business • Capture and communicate the needs from a business point of view • Create a capacity plan and distribute this to the organization – Business English Service Capacity Management • Perform an assessment of the overall services being offered • Put in place communication guidelines for communicating IT Services – Do this in conjunction with Service Level Management • Communicate to IT to think in terms of service and not just resources. Component Capacity Management • Identify and manage each of the components of the IT Infrastructure • E.g. CPU, memory, disks, network bandwidth • Evaluates NEW technology • Communicate the difference between the Business, Service and Resource Capacity. Iterative Activities • Create your re-usable planning documents. These need to be distributed to the Capacity Team. • Set-up monitoring parameter and reports – Use Business English. Demand Management and Modeling • Communicate the need to manage demand of the capacity • Set regular meetings to help influence IT Service demand, communicate results • Use modeling to predict the future of the IT Infrastructure – communicate using Business English • Perform and communicate result to the IT teams.
Information regarding activities was distributed; To: On:
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Capacity Management Planning Costs Information relating to costs may be a topic that would be held back from general communication. Failure to convince people of the benefits will mean total rejection of associated costs. If required, costs fall under several categories: •
Personnel – Capacity Management staff, database management team (Setup and ongoing of the availability database)
•
Accommodation – Physical location (Set-up and ongoing)
•
Software – Tools (Set-up and ongoing)
•
Hardware – Infrastructure (Set-up)
•
Education – Training (Set-up and ongoing)
•
Procedures – external consultants etc (Set-up)
The costs of implementing Capacity Management will be outweighed by the benefits. For example, many organizations have a negative perception of the Capacity Management process as it seems to constantly measure the wrong services. To alleviate this, customers and end-users need to be constantly informed of the levels of capacity being provided. This provides good customer service and adds a level of comfort to the users in the sense that they can “see” action taking place. A well run Capacity Management process will make major inroads into altering the perception of the IT Organization.
Details regarding the cost of Capacity Management were distributed; To: On:
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3.9
Capacity Management Process Manager
IT Services Roles & Responsibilities Process: Capacity Management
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Detailed responsibilities of the Capacity Management process owner The Capacity Manager… Description
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Will develop and maintain the Capacity Management Process. Will develop, maintain and promote Capacity Management. Will coordinate process reviews utilizing independent parties to provide an objective view on the simplicity of the process and areas for improvement. Will be responsible for implementing any design improvements identified. Will chair the technical meetings that are used to identify and action capacity issues and to verify that all steps were completed and the objective of the process was achieved. Arrange and run all Capacity Management reviews with the Capacity Management team. The reviews where necessary will include other IT Departments as well as key customers. Will control and review: Any outstanding process related actions Current targets for availability performance The process mission statement
6.
Make available relevant, concise reports that are both timely and readable for Customers and Management
Notes/Comments
Use the notes/Comment s column in different ways. If you are looking to apply for a process role, then you can check yourself against the list (with ticks or look to update your resume). If you are looking to appoint a process manager or promote someone from within the organization you can make notes about their abilities in the particular area.
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Detailed skills of the Capacity Management process owner The Capacity Manager….. Description
1.
The Capacity Manager will display a communication style based around information and escalation.
2.
Have practical and quantifiable process management experience. High degree of analytical skills to be able to assess the impact of incidents on different business systems and people.
3.
High degree of analytical skill needed to be able to help in the process of restoring service as quickly as possible from a capacity point of view. Technical ability in being able to read data from the Capacity Management process that will help with the identification of trends and improvements relating to capacity.
4.
5.
An ability to run a meeting according to strict guidelines (not to get side-tracked on items that one person may be interested in). Must possess skills in influencing and negotiating as well. The Capacity Manager must be able to communicate with people at all levels of the organization. This is especially important during meetings.
6.
The process manager must be able to demonstrate ways to “do things differently” that will improve the process.
7.
Must be able to think logically about capacity issues that could affect the organization and design appropriate assessment and diagnosis activities.
Notes/Comments
Use the notes/Comment s column in different ways. If you are looking to apply for a process role, then you can check yourself against the list (with ticks or look to update your resume). If you are looking to appoint a process manager or promote someone from within the organization you can make notes about their abilities in the particular area.
This will provide a strong link into the Problem Management process and Service Level Management process.
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4
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN – PROJECT PLAN
IT Services Implementation Plan / Project Plan Skeleton Outline Process: Capacity Management
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Planning and implementation for Capacity Management This document as described provides guidance for the planning and implementation of the Capacity Management ITIL process. The document is not to be considered an extensive plan as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization. However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered for planning and implementation of this process. Initial planning When beginning the process planning the following items must be completed: CHECK
DESCRIPTION
☺ or 2 or date Get agreement on the objective (use the ITIL definition), purpose, scope, and implementation approach (e.g. Internal, outsourced, hybrid) for the process. Assign a person to the key role of process manager/owner. This person is responsible for the process and all associated systems. This person will generally be the Network or Operations Manager. Conduct a review of activities that would currently be considered as an activity associated with this process. Make notes and discuss the “re-usability” of that activity. Key activities of Capacity Management are: •
Gathering Capacity Requirements
•
Modeling the IT Infrastructure to plan for Capacity
•
Application Sizing, to determine the right capacity for applications
•
Managing and influencing the use of IT Services.
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Create and gain agreement on a high-level process plan and a design for any associated process systems. NOTE: the plan need not be detailed. Too many initiatives get caught up in too much detail in the planning phase. KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING. Review the finances required for the process as a whole and any associated systems (expenditure including people, software, hardware, accommodation). Don’t forget that the initial expenditure may be higher than the ongoing costs. Don’t forget annual allowances for systems maintenance or customizations to systems by development staff. Agree to the policy regarding this process.
Create Strategic statements
Refer to the Policies, Objectives and Scope document on page 49 for more information regarding Policy, Objective and Scope statements.
Policy Statement The policy establishes the “SENSE OF URGENCY” for the process.
It helps us to think clearly about and agree on the reasons WHY effort is put into this process.
An inability to answer this seemingly simple, but actually complex question is a major stepping stone towards successful implementation
The most common mistake made is that reasons regarding IT are given as the WHY we should do this. Reasons like “to make our IT department more efficient” are far too generic and don’t focus on the real issue behind why this process is needed.
The statement must leave the reader in no doubt that the benefits of this process will be far reaching and contribute to the business in a clearly recognizable way.
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Objective Statement When you are describing the end or ultimate goal for a unit of activity that is about to be undertaken you are outlining the OBJECTIVE for that unit of activity.
Of course the activity may be some actions for just yourself or a team of people. In either case, writing down the answer to WHERE will this activity lead me/us/the organization is a powerful exercise.
There are many studies that indicate the simple act of putting a statement about the end result expected onto a piece of paper, then continually referring to it, makes achieving that end result realistic.
As a tip regarding the development of an objective statement; don’t get caught up in spending hours on this. Do it quickly and go with your instincts or first thoughts – BUT THEN, wait a few days and review what you did for another short period of time and THEN commit to the outcome of the second review as your statement. Scope Statement In defining the scope of this process we are answering what activities and what “information interfaces” does this process have.
Don’t get caught up in trying to be too detailed about the information flow into and out of this process. What is important is that others realize that information does in fact flow.
For example, with regard to the CAPACITY MANAGEMENT process we can create a simple table such as:
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Capacity Management Information flows Process Capacity Management Availability Management
to to
Capacity Management Change Management
to
Capacity Management Service Level Management
to
to
to
Process Availability Management Capacity Management
Information Cooperation with Availability Management Planning
Change Management Capacity Management
Assessment of RFCs for capacity impact
Service Level Management Capacity Management
Assistance with drafting Operational Level Agreements
Cooperation with Capacity Management Planning
RFCs for Review
Attempt to manage workload within SLAs
Steps for Implementation There can be a variety of ways to implement this process. For a lot of organizations a staged implementation may be suitable. For others a “big bang” implementation – due to absolute equality may be appropriate. In reality however, we usually look at implementation according to pre-defined priorities. Consider the following options and then apply a suitable model to your own organization or case study. STEPS
NOTES/ /RELEVANCE/DATES/WHO
Define the Objective and Scope for Capacity Management
Establish and agree on a clear definition for: •
Business Capacity Management
•
Service Capacity Management
•
Component Capacity Management
This is one of the most interesting aspects. It can be very difficult to get everyone to agree to a definition, and it can be very difficult to establish the correct understanding of
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the definition. However, get this right, and the rest of the process is made easier.
Seek initial approval
Establish and Define Roles and Responsibilities for the process. Appoint a Capacity Manager.
Establish and Define the Scope for Capacity Management and the relationships with IT Services
Establish Capacity Management Process
Establish and Define Relationship with all other processes. This is another key aspect of the Capacity Management process. Capacity Management is where we are helping set the expectations of service and influence their use. Capacity Management works closely with Service Level Management to achieve this.
Establish monitoring levels. Capacity as seen by the business is related to the service and not just the components that make up the service. Remember there are three aspects to Capacity Management.
Define reporting standards
Publicize and market
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The priority selection has to be made with other factors in mind, such as competitive analysis, any legal requirements, and desires of “politically powerful influencers”. Costs The cost of process implementation is something that must be considered before, during and after the implementation initiative. The following points and table help to frame these considerations: (A variety of symbols have been provided to help you indicate required expenditure, rising or falling expenditure, level of satisfaction regarding costs in a particular area, etc.) Initial Personnel
During
Ongoing
0
/
Costs of people for initial design of process, implementation and ongoing support Accommodation
☺
Costs of housing new staff and any associated new equipment and space for documents or process related concepts. Software New tools required to support the process and/or the costs of migration from an existing tool or system to the new one. Maintenance costs Hardware New hardware required to support the process activities. IT hardware and even new desks for staff. Education Re-education of existing staff to learn new techniques and/or learn to operate new systems. Procedures Development costs associated with filling in the detail of a process activity. The step-by-step recipe guides for all involved and even indirectly involved personnel.
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In most cases, costs for process implementation have to be budgeted for (or allocated) well in advance of expenditure. Part of this step involves deciding on a charging mechanism (if any) for the new services to be offered. Build the team Each process requires a process owner and in most situations a team of people to assist.
The Capacity Management process is one of the processes in the Service Delivery set that shows very visible benefits from the outset and is very influential in influencing the use of IT Services for its customers and end users.
Of course a lot will be dependent on the timing of the implementation and whether it is to be staged or implemented as one exercise. Refer to the Capacity Management Roles & Responsibilities document and the Capacity Management Process Manager document, found on pages 75 and 89 respectively, for more information on the Capacity Management Process Manager and roles, responsibilities and tasks of involved personnel.
Analyze current situation and FLAG Naturally there are many organizations that have many existing procedures/processes and people in place that feel that the activities of Capacity Management are already being done. It is critical to identify these systems and consider their future role as part of the new process definition.
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Examples of areas to review are: Area
Notes
Power teams Current formal procedures Current informal procedures Current role descriptions Existing organizational structure Spreadsheets, databases and other repositories Other…
Implementation Planning After base decisions regarding the scope of the process and the overall planning activities are complete we need to address the actual implementation of the process. It is unlikely that there will not be some current activity or work being performed that would fit under the banner of this process. However, we can provide a comprehensive checklist of points that must be reviewed and done. Implementation activities for Capacity Management Activity
Notes/Commen ts/Time Frame/Who
Review current and existing Capacity Management practices in greater detail. Make sure you also review current process connections from these practices to other areas of IT Service Delivery and Support. Review the ability of existing functions and staff. Can we “reuse” some of the skills to minimize training, education and time required for implementation? Establish the accuracy and relevance of current processes, procedures and meetings. As part of this step if any information is credible document the transition from the current format to any new format that is selected. Decide how best to select any vendor that will provide assistance
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in this process area (including tools, external consultancy or assistance to help with initial high workload during process implementation). Establish a selection guideline for the evaluation and selection of tools required to support this process area (i.e. Capacity Management tools). Purchase and install tools required to support this process (i.e. Capacity Management tool). Ensure adequate skills transfer and on-going support is considered if external systems are selected. Create any required business processes interfaces for this process that can be provided by the automated tools (e.g. reporting – frequency, content). Document and get agreement on roles, responsibilities and training plans. Communicate with and provide necessary education and training for staff that covers the actual importance of the process and the intricacies of the process itself.
An important point to remember is that if this process is to be implemented at the same time as other processes that it is crucial that both implementation plans and importantly timing of work is complementary. Cutover to new processes The question of when a new process actually starts is one that is not easy to answer. Most process activity evolves without rigid starting dates and this is what we mean when we answer a question with “that’s just the way it’s done around here”. Ultimately we do want the new process to become the way things are done around here, so it may even be best not to set specific launch dates, as this will set the expectation that from the given date all issues relating to the process will disappear (not a realistic expectation).
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