ESKITP7042 IT Application Management / Support Level 2 Role

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1 Overview This sub-discipline is about the competencies required to ensure that application systems/services that support specific business functions and processes for an organisation remain available, appropriate to business needs and perform according to defined service levels. Applications can be defined as technology solutions that support specific business functions and processes, such as sales ordering, inventory management, customer complaints handling and payroll processing. Applications may be referred to as services, but typically any given service will involve a wider range of technology elements than just the application itself. Application management may be broken down into three broad categories of activity as follows: reactive/responsive activity to resolve incidents and problems that occur with application services and impact an organisations ability to use them correctly the development of enhanced capabilities that may be bundled into scheduled releases/new versions of the application, often in response to business change, process redesign and or organisational redesign activities resulting in change requests for the application. These releases may also include fixes to lower priority problems routine maintenance of application to ensure they continue to perform according to service levels and expectations Applications may exist as internally developed technology, third party packages or externally provided and hosted software services. Note: For each role it is necessary to subsume the knowledge and understanding statements from the role immediately below. ESKITP7042 1

2 Performance criteria Carry out, under supervision, maintenance activities that apply to You must be able to: P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 Correctly follow the procedures, tools and techniques that apply to application management and their deliverables, under supervision Comply with any relevant legislation, regulations and external standards relating to and their deliverables in own area of accountability Undertake routine maintenance on applications, in line with procedures, documenting action taken and reporting issues arising to appropriate people Respond promptly to incoming incidents, problems and change requests affecting applications, in line with their identified priority, as directed Identify and use appropriate contacts/escalation paths with external providers of support for applications, where appropriate Communicate effectively, courteously and in a timely manner with all internal and individuals and groups involved in the provision and progression of application support You must be able to: Assist in reporting and monitoring the quality and effectiveness of P7 P8 Accurately and comprehensively document the results of testing that has taken place on changes to an application, in line with procedures and standards Help to identify information required to support the reporting of the performance and change and release management of application support activities Provide direction to improve problem management activities You must be able to: P9 Accurately and comprehensively document the results of testing that has taken place on changes to an application, in line with procedures and standards P10 Help to identify information required to support the reporting of the performance and change and release management of application support activities ESKITP7042 2

3 Knowledge and understanding Carry out, under supervision, maintenance activities that apply to You need to know and understand: K1 Identify and select: K1.1 which incoming incidents, problems and change requests need immediate/emergency response K1.2 what information needs to be gathered and/or referenced in order to assess incoming application incidents, problems and/or change requests K1.3 who are the external providers used for the support of particular applications K1.4 fixes and patches to applications that will resolve incoming incidents, problems and change requests K2 Source, gather and collate: K2.1 all relevant information about an application, including the architecture, design and configuration K2.2 information relating to incoming incidents, problems and change requests for an application K2.3 information from internal and external sources about known errors of any application K3 Source internal and external expertise in particular applications, as and when required K4 Use and apply: K4.1 the procedures, tools and techniques that apply to application management activities and their deliverables K4.2 the proposed release schedule and plan for any application K4.3 all relevant information about an application K4.4 information about the architecture, design and configuration of applications during K4.5 appropriate sources of expertise in particular applications from internal and external sources and contacts/escalation paths with external providers of support K5 Record and store: K5.1 all relevant information about incoming incidents, problems and change requests K5.2 any information from external sources about known errors with applications K5.3 routine action taken to ensure the ongoing performance and effectiveness of an application K5.4 the results of testing that has taken place on changes to an application K6 Operate with: K6.1 reference to organisational standards ESKITP7042 3

4 K6.2 reference to professional and ethical standards, relating to application management activities and their deliverables K6.3 integrity and confidentiality during K7 Comply with: K7.1 all relevant and applicable legislation and regulations relating to K7.2 all relevant change control mechanisms during application activities K8 Take action and measures: K8.1 to respond to incoming application incidents, problems and change requests promptly K8.2 to undertake routine maintenance activities on an application to ensure its ongoing performance and availability K9 Communicate and liaise with external individuals and groups who provide application support K10 The role of application management in supporting business operations, IT/technology service strategy and service delivery/operations K11 What is meant by: K11.1 an application K11.2 application management K11.3 an application package K11.4 a patch/fix K11.5 a release K11.6 an external provider of support to applications K12 What is the relevance of service levels in relation to application management activities K13 What is the relationship between, the service lifecycle and the service catalogue and/or portfolio K14 What information might need to be referenced and used during K15 What are the: K15.1 categories of activity that are undertaken by application support K15.2 procedures, tools and techniques to conduct application management K15.3 inputs to and required outputs from K15.4 implications of standards and service levels in relation to application management activities K15.5 potential implications of and their deliverables being incorrect, incomplete, inadequate and/or inappropriate K16 The fact that: K16.1 application packages and external application service providers exist K16.2 are similar to those of technical support but focus predominantly on software that supports, and may mirror, business processes K16.3 customers of applications may be internal or external to the ESKITP7042 4

5 organisation K16.4 some organisations choose to use external application packages/services and others choose to manage them internally K16.5 many organisations cannot operate their business processes effectively without application services being available and accessible K16.6 external providers may be required to assist with the resolution of incidents, problems or changes associated with application packages and or externally hosted application services K16.7 lower priority problems and issues associated with applications may be resolved through the implementation of software changes that are bundled together into a scheduled release K16.8 the loss of access to or availability of application services can have a major impact on an organisation s operational activities, brand and reputation K17 Who: K17.1 are the external providers of applications that are used by an organisation and who to contact in the event of problems K17.2 are the customers of K17.3 needs to authorise actions proposed and taken during application management activities K17.4 may be impacted by any particular incident or problem that arises with an application K18 The importance of: K18.1 communicating with external providers of support for applications in line with procedures K18.2 documenting changes made to applications in order to resolve incidents and problems or respond to change requests K18.3 effective communication with a range of customers and other individuals during K18.4 carrying out routine maintenance on applications K19 The procedures, tools and techniques that can be used to conduct K20 How to make contact with external application support providers in the event of problems K21 How to comply with standards and service levels that apply to ESKITP7042 5

6 You need to know and understand: You need to know and understand: Assist in reporting and monitoring the quality and effectiveness of K22 Monitor the performance of applications K23 Report any issues arising from: K23.1 routine maintenance activities K23.2 the implementation of changes and releases K24 Present any issues arising from routine maintenance activities Assist in carrying out effective implementation of changes and releases to K25 Identify and select: K25.1 which incidents, problems and change requests can be tackled internally and which require external provider support K25.2 what effort, complexity, risk and elapsed time may be required by self to develop changes to applications required in response to incidents, problems and/or change requests K26 Source, gather and collate information from external sources about resolutions and fixes that are to be included in future application releases K27 Use and apply information: K27.1 about incoming incidents, problems and change requests from a range of internal and external sources in order to develop fixes, patches and changes K27.2 from external sources about application resolutions and fixes that are included in future product and service releases K28 Implement and maintain changes and releases into pre production environments ready for their validation and release into the production environment K29 Analyse and interpret all relevant information about an application including incidents, problems and change requests K30 Present any issues arising from the implementation of changes and releases K31 Take action and measures to estimate accurately the effort, complexity, risk and elapsed time that may be required by self to develop changes to applications required in response to incidents, problems and or change requests K32 Communicate and liaise with internal and external individuals and groups on the progress of application changes K33 The fact that: K33.1 rely heavily on information gathered in incident/problem management activities and/or change requests K33.2 may occur as a result of problems ESKITP7042 6

7 occurring with K33.3 existing services or may be the result of changes requested to applications in order to better support an organisation K33.4 severe incidents, problems and issues associated with applications may require the development of a fix/patch that can be implemented immediately/as an emergency K34 Why some fixes/patches for low priority problems may be bundled into scheduled releases and other changes to applications need to be managed as emergencies K35 The importance of making an accurate assessment of own effort required and elapsed time to develop, test and implement an authorised change to an application ESKITP7042 7

8 Developed by e-skills UK Version number 1 Date approved September 2009 Indicative review date Validity Status Originating organisation March 2014 Current Original e-skills UK Original URN 7042 Relevant occupations Suite Key words Application Support; Information and Communication Technology; Systems Support IT and Telecoms Application; Service level ESKITP7042 8