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8.2.1 The IT Infrastructure and IT
support organisation
8.2.2 Guiding principles
8.2.3 Terminology
The Availability of the IT Infrastructure components that deliver IT Services to the business and their Users are influenced by the:
The IT provider is accountable to the business for the delivery of the IT Service(s). The required levels of Availability for the IT Service(s) should be documented within a formal SLA.
The IT provider needs to formally agree with each Infrastructure supplier and maintainer the appropriate conditions and controls necessary for the SLA to be met.
Figure 8.1 - The relationships with suppliers and maintainers of the IT Infrastructure
For internal suppliers these requirements are documented within an Operational Level Agreement (OLA). For external suppliers they must be documented within an Underpinning contract. Figure 8.1 shows the relationship and where the formal agreements need to be established.
To ensure that the required level of Availability is being delivered to the business requires all formal agreements to be measured, monitored and reviewed on a regular basis.
An effective Availability Management process can 'make a difference' and will be recognised as such by the business if the deployment of Availability Management within the IT organisation has a strong emphasis on the needs of the business and User.
To reinforce this emphasis there are three guiding principles that should underpin the Availability Management process and thinking:
Figure 8.2 - Availability is at the core of business and User satisfaction
Figure 8.2 promotes some simple messages that make an important point. As a consumer of an IT Service, its Availability and reliability can directly influence both the perception and satisfaction of the overall IT Service provision.
A good analogy for example is to consider the purchasing of a new car. Cost, style, performance and features are all important. However, if the car breaks down frequently the buyer is unlikely ever to purchase another car from that manufacturer again.
Within the IT organisation it is unlikely that anyone would disagree with the above messages. However, with today's commercial and business pressures it is all too easy for new IT strategies and initiatives to create diversionary activities. The result is that focus on Availability drifts with the potential for the IT organisation to become so internally focused that it loses sight of the business and User(s) it serves. By embracing this principle, Availability Management ensures that Availability is recognised by all (senior management to junior staff) as the primary IT deliverable.
While emphasising the importance of Availability to the business operation and its influence on User satisfaction and business reputation, the reality is that on occasions things do go wrong. For the IT organisation this is their 'moment of truth' in the eyes of the business. How the Incident is managed and resolved plays an important Role in how the business views the responsiveness and quality of the IT organisation.
To make a point it is often necessary to show the extreme. Figure 8.3 challenges the view that business and User satisfaction following IT failure scenarios is simply based on Incident duration. By comparing the duration of two Incidents and the Impact on business and User satisfaction, it highlights that satisfaction levels are not simply driven by Incident duration. The key message being that in any IT failure situation the business and User will have a wider range of needs, in addition to speed of recovery, that must in total be satisfied.
Figure 8.3 - Business and User satisfaction levels following an IT failure
The Availability Management process plays a crucial role in the anticipation of IT failure and the assessment of the business and IT needs that must be satisfied. For the business, these revolve around information needs that enable the business to manage the impact of failure on their business and Customers. For IT, these revolve around the provision of processes, procedures and tools to enable the technical recovery to be completed in an optimal time.
| Industry view 'The Customer doesn't always expect everything will go right all the time, the big test is what you do when things go wrong............. Occasional service failure is unavoidable' Source:- Sir Colin Marshall - Chairman, British Airways |
Availability Management should not simply understand the Availability of each component. By taking a business and User perspective it is important to understand how each technology component supports the vital Business functions upon which the business operation relies. Figure 8.4 illustrates that by taking a business perspective of Availability the understanding in business terms on the contribution of each component to the business operation and User is enhanced.
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Figure 8.4 - Understanding how the technology supports the business by taking an end-to-end business and User perspective
This is fundamental if Availability Management is to optimise the IT Infrastructure and supporting organisation to deliver the levels of Availability required by the business and to drive Availability improvements that deliver true business and User benefits.
| Validation A Financial services organisation had for years continually looked to improve its Auto Teller Machine (ATM) Availability by looking at how individual component Availability could be improved. The reasoned thinking being that by improving the Availability of IT component(s) that this would improve the overall end-to-end Availability. Despite this approach, Customer satisfaction levels did not improve and subsequent benchmarking indicated competitors were achieving higher levels of Availability. A new approach was required and a project was defined to establish the underlying reasons that prevented Customers from obtaining cash from its ATMs. This required new methods of measurement and reporting which identified a wide range of causes. The IT organisation was able to identify the range of IT component causes that prevented Customers obtaining cash and proceeded with a Programme of focused improvement activities. This had two effects. Firstly, it improved the overall end-to-end Availability of the ATM service to provide improved Availability of the ATM to the Customer and secondly, resulted in the number of Customers unable to withdraw cash due to IT component non-Availability being significantly reduced. Key observations from this exercise were: • the IT improvements were about 'changing the way' things are done, e.g. scheduling • no technology upgrades were necessary • measurement identified improvement opportunities that traditional measures masked • the IT support organisation now gained valuable insight into the end-to-end service • that further improvements to the end-to-end service were also achieved by business process improvements, e.g. cash replenishment procedures. |
To aid and provide ease of understanding, the most important terms used throughout this Chapter are explained in this Paragraph:
Availability is the ability of an IT Service or component to perform its required function at a stated instant or over a stated period of time.
Availability (or rather UnAvailability) is the key indicator of service quality perceived by the business and User. Availability is underpinned by the reliability and maintainability of the IT Infrastructure and effectiveness of the IT support organisation. In summary, Availability depends on the:
An IT Service that consistently meets its SLA Availability targets has the characteristics of low frequency of failure and rapid resumption of service after an Incident has occurred.
The reliability of an IT Service can be qualitatively stated as freedom from operational failure. The reliability of an IT Service is determined by the:
Maintainability relates to the ability of an IT Infrastructure component to be retained in, or restored to, an operational state. Maintainability of an IT Infrastructure component can be divided into 7 separate stages:
The Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability (CIA) of the data associated with a service; an aspect of overall Availability.
Serviceability describes the contractual arrangements made with Third Party IT Service providers, e.g. Facilities Management. This is to assure the Availability, reliability and maintainability of IT Services and components under their care.
It is important to recognise that Serviceability in itself cannot be measured as a specific Metric. It is the Availability, reliability and maintainability of IT Service and components under their care that must be measured.
The term Vital Business Function (VBF) is used to reflect the business critical elements of the Business process supported by an IT Service. An IT Service may support a number of business functions that are less critical. For example an ATM service VBF would be the dispensing of cash. However the ability to obtain a mini statement print from an ATM may not be considered as vital. This distinction is important and should influence Availability design and associated costs.
The term User is used to describe the consumer of an IT Service. Thus no distinction is made or necessary between describing Availability from the internal (business Customer) or external (Customer of a business to consumer service) perspective.
The term IT support organisation is used to describe the IT functions necessary to support, maintain and manage the IT Infrastructure to enable an IT Service to meet the level of Availability defined within the SLA. The IT support organisation can consist of internal and/or external suppliers.
The requirements for internal suppliers are documented within Operational Level Agreement(s). Underpinning contracts are commissioned for external suppliers.
The term 'Availability Management' is used throughout each Section of this Chapter to indicate the execution of activities within the process. A process, however, requires people for its successful deployment and execution. An organisation may wish to assign this to one individual, one organisational function or have roles and responsibilities associated with the process assigned across multiple organisational areas.
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