AVAILABILITY MANAGEMENT: 8.3 The Availability Management process

8.3 The Availability Management Process

8.3.1 Key inputs
8.3.2 Key outputs
8.3.3 Key activities
8.3.4 Relationships with other IT Service Management disciplines
8.3.5 Benefits, Costs and Problems

The scope of Availability Management covers the design, implementation, measurement and management of IT Infrastructure Availability. This is reflected in the process description shown diagrammatically in Figure 8.5 and described in the following Paragraphs.

Figure 8.5 - High level Availability Management process diagram

Availability Management commences as soon as the Availability requirements for an IT Service are clear enough to be articulated. It is an ongoing process, finishing only when the IT Service is decommissioned.

8.3.1 Key inputs

The key inputs to the Availability Management process are:

the Availability requirements of the business for a new or enhanced IT Service
a business Impact assessment for each vital Business function underpinned by the IT Infrastructure
the Availability, reliability and maintainability requirements for the IT Infrastructure components that underpin the IT Service(s)
information on IT Service and component failure(s), usually in the form of Incident and Problem records
a wide range of configuration and monitoring data pertaining to each IT Service and component
service level achievements against agreed targets for each IT Service that has an agreed SLA.

8.3.2 Key outputs

The key outputs from the Availability Management process are:

Availability and recovery design criteria for each new or enhanced IT Service
details of the Availability techniques that will be deployed to provide additional Infrastructure resilience to prevent or minimise the impact of component failure to the IT Service
agreed targets of Availability, reliability and maintainability for the IT Infrastructure components that underpin the IT Service(s)
Availability reporting of Availability, reliability and maintainability to reflect the business, User and IT support organisation perspectives
the monitoring requirements for IT components to ensure that deviations in Availability, reliability and maintainability are detected and reported
Availability Plan for the proactive improvement of the IT Infrastructure.

8.3.3 Key activities

The key activities of the process are as follows:

determining the Availability requirements from the business for a new or enhanced IT Service and formulating the Availability and recovery design criteria for the IT Infrastructure
in conjunction with ITSCM determining the vital business functions and impact arising from IT component failure. Where appropriate reviewing the Availability design criteria to provide additional resilience to prevent or minimise impact to the business
defining the targets for Availability, reliability and maintainability for the IT Infrastructure components that underpin the IT Service to enable these to be documented and agreed within SLAs, OLAs and contracts
establishing measures and reporting of Availability, Reliability and Maintainability that reflects the business, User and IT support organisation perspectives
monitoring and trend analysis of the Availability, Reliability and Maintainability of IT components
reviewing IT Service and component Availability and identifying unacceptable levels
investigating the underlying reasons for unacceptable Availability.
producing and maintaining an Availability Plan which prioritises and plans IT Availability improvements.

8.3.4 Relationships with other IT Service Management disciplines

All IT Service Management disciplines have an influence on IT Availability. Therefore Availability Management, by implication, interfaces with all disciplines. These can be considered bi-directional with Availability Management providing inputs while also having a Dependency on the outputs from the other IT Service Management disciplines.

Example 1

Service Level Management

An input from Availability Management to the Service Level Management process is an assessment of the Availability that can be delivered for a new IT Service to enable the SLA to be negotiated and agreed. An output from Service Level Management to the Availability Management process is details of the agreed SLA that enables the appropriate Availability measurement and reporting to be instigated.

Example 2

IT Service Continuity Management

An output from IT Service Continuity Management is a business impact assessment detailing the vital business functions dependent on IT Infrastructure Availability. An Input from Availability Management to IT Service Continuity Management is the Availability and recovery design criteria to maintain 'business as usual' by preventing or minimising the impact of failures by use of techniques such as Component Failure Impact Assessment (CFIA).

Example 3

IT Financial Management

An input from Availability Management to IT Financial Management is the Cost of non-Availability arising from the loss of an IT Service(s) to help cost justify improvements defined within the Availability Plan. An output from IT Financial Management to Availability Management is the costs associated with proposed upgrades to the IT Infrastructure to deliver increased levels of Availability.

Example 4

Capacity Management

An input from Availability Management to Capacity Management is a completed CFIA for a new IT Service denoting where Availability techniques are to deployed to provide additional Infrastructure resilience. An output from Capacity Management to Availability Management is the Capacity Plan detailing how the Capacity requirements associated with the provision of additional Infrastructure resilience will be met.

Example 5

Change Management

An input from Availability Management to Change Management is details of the planned maintenance regime, i.e. frequency, duration and impact, for components underpinning a new IT Service. An output from Change Management to Availability Management is a schedule of planned maintenance activities for IT components detailing the times and IT Services that will be impacted.

Deficiencies in any of the IT Service Management processes may impact Availability. Techniques such as Systems Outage Analysis (SOA) may identify process improvement opportunities for the other IT Service Management processes. In this context, Availability Management can be a driver for process improvements within the overall IT Service Management framework deployed within an organisation. Please refer to Paragraph 8.9.8 for more information on SOA.

8.3.5 Benefits, Costs and Problems

Benefits of Availability Management

The principal benefit of Availability Management is that IT Services with an Availability requirement are designed, implemented and managed to consistently meet that target. The IT Availability requirement being delivered at a known and justified cost and to a predetermined level of quality and security.

Availability Management if deployed with a strong emphasis on the business and User ensures the IT organisation recognises Availability as the primary IT deliverable to generate and sustain the behaviours of continuous improvement and a service culture.

The benefits of Availability Management can be summarised as follows:

a single point of accountability for Availability (process owner) is established within the IT organisation
IT Services are designed to meet the IT Availability requirements determined from the business
the levels of IT Availability provided are cost justified
the levels of Availability required are agreed, measured and monitored to fully support Service Level Management
shortfalls in the provision of the required levels of Availability are recognised and appropriate corrective actions identified and implemented
a business and User perspective of IT Service Availability is taken to ensure optimal usage and performance of the IT Infrastructure is achieved to deliver maximum benefit
the frequency and duration of IT Service failures is reduced over time
IT support organisation mindset moves from error correction to service enhancement; from reactive to proactive attitude
the IT support organisation is seen to 'add value' to the business.

Without an effective deployment of Availability Management the following are examples of the likely difficulties and issues that can arise:

it is difficult to define service levels regarding Availability that are specific, measurable, achievable and comprehensible to both the business and IT support organisation
the management and performance of internal and external suppliers is jeopardised by the lack of agreed and measured Availability targets
it becomes difficult to assess what level of IT Service Availability is achievable and cost effective
new IT Services are implemented without full consideration of how IT Availability will be delivered. The lack of design focus on Availability and recovery may lead to costly retrospective Changes to improve Availability
instability of new IT Services results in lost business opportunity and damage to business reputation
Availability issues are not recognised or owned within the IT support organisation due to a lack of clear accountability
the consequences of failing to deliver consistent and agreed levels of Availability inevitably leads to dissatisfaction, a lack of trust and conflict between the business and the IT support organisation.

KEY MESSAGE

'Where today's problems are seen as addressed by the latest technology and tools, it is important to reflect that Availability cannot be purchased....it must be designed, implemented, measured and managed. This is Availability Management'.

Costs

The costs associated with implementing and executing Availability Management include:

the staff costs associated with the process owner Role for Availability Management which include salary, training, recruitment costs and if needed the cost of initial consultancy
accommodation costs
process deployment costs to define and implement the necessary process, procedures and techniques
support tools for monitoring and reporting.

Availability Management may identify investment opportunities to improve Availability, e.g. new IT Service Management tools. However, these costs should be considered against the Availability requirement and the business case justified or rejected as appropriate. These are not the costs of implementing Availability Management.

Possible problems

The possible problems that may inhibit the establishment and deployment of Availability Management are often of an organisational nature. Typical problems encountered are:

the IT organisation view Availability as a responsibility of all senior managers and therefore are reluctant to justify the costs of appointing a single individual as accountable for Availability
the IT organisation and supporting organisation have difficulty understanding how Availability Management can make a difference particularly where the existing disciplines of Incident Management, Problem Management and Change Management are already deployed
the IT organisation view current levels of Availability as good so see no compelling reason for the creation of a new role within the organisation
there is resistance to process ownership and the concept of an accountable individual/role who has authority over all the IT support organisation
the IT organisation fail to delegate the appropriate authority and empowerment to enable the process owner for Availability Management to influence all areas of the IT support organisation.

The above are clearly major inhibitors. However, assuming the IT organisation intends to establish the process and associated role, then other problems can impact implementation and ongoing activity. These can include:

lack of available Resources with the required skills and competencies to establish Availability Management
lack of specific Availability Management tools to underpin and support the process
need to create bespoke tool and reporting solutions in the absence of appropriate in-house or marketplace offerings
lack of mature service management processes that provide a key input to Availability Management, i.e. Service Level Management, Configuration Management, Incident Management and Problem Management
Availability Management being viewed by some managers as everything or nothing.

None of the problems identified are insurmountable providing there is strong leadership and commitment from the IT organisation in creating and empowering the role and pragmatism during its implementation to focus on areas of immediate benefit and to accept support tool shortcomings.

Validation

Following a period of IT systems instability the senior executive of an IT organisation requested a major IT consultancy group to perform an independent Availability review.

A key emphasis placed on the review was not simply to focus on the Incidents that had occurred but to assess the capability of the IT organisation to meet the anticipated demand for increasing levels of Availability for future IT Services.

When the review concluded, two key points within the executive summary presented to the senior executive and sponsor of the review were:

•  'There is a lack of focus on Availability within the IT support organisation'

•  'The User view has been lost'

The major recommendation proposed to address these issues was to implement an Availability Management process and appoint the role of an Availability Manager as the process owner.

The recommendation was accepted and progressed. Two years later, the same consultancy group was asked to undertake an audit of the Availability Management process and its implementation to assess progress. The executive summary of this review concluded:

•  'A dramatic change in attitude in the last 2 years'

•  'Availability now recognised as the key element in providing IT Services'

•  'Decisions now being made on the basis of value and cost of downtime'

•  'Recognised as important to the success of the business'

•  'Gets things done'

•  'Greater sharing of responsibilities between IT and the business'.

It is important to reflect that the above achievements were accomplished by appointing a single individual as process owner with sole accountability for the implementation and ongoing execution of the Availability Management process.