Using ITIL to Build a Successful Capacity Management Process Neil McMenemy Principal Consultant, Capacitas
Agenda ITIL Capacity Management Strengths Framework Interfaces to Other Processes Continual Service Improvement Plan Building a Capacity Management Process ITIL 3 ITIL Self Assessment Improving the Capacity Management Self Assessment Summary 2-2
ITIL Capacity Management Strengths Although we can show that there are some weaknesses and omissions from ITIL Capacity Management it does have considerable strengths The fact that it sits within a framework is important Capacity Management is within Service Delivery which itself is part of IT Service Management (ITSM) and has appropriate interfaces to the processes within these Service Delivery s and ITSM s position within IT is defined, as are the other disciplines that encompass IT ITIL encourages the attainment of high quality IT Services through a Continuous Service Improvement Programme, the considerations of which tie-in to creating effective processes Although ITIL may not be perfect, it has been adopted by many organisations as a way of being compared to best practice and there are user groups and self assessment data that can be used to ease the path towards it 2-3
ITIL Capacity Management Strengths Capacity Management within Service Delivery 2-4
ITIL Capacity Management Strengths Service Delivery with Service Management within IT T h e B u s i n e s s The Business Perspective Planning to Implement Service Management Software Asset Management Service Management Service Delivery Service Support Application Management Security Management ICT Infrastructure Management T h e T e c h n o l o g y 2-5
Framework - Interfaces to Other Processes It is clear from the IT Service Management diagram that there are some working interfaces between Capacity Management and other ITIL ITSM processes These interfaces, whether direct or indirect should form a part of the Capacity Management process In practice these interfaces often exist in an informal, ad-hoc way but they need to be documented and formalised 2-6
Continual Service Improvement Plan (CSIP) Long-term Programme Organisational Structure Size Business/IT Processes can be shared between functional groups Authority for IT management Support from business management Service Culture Understand the customer view Why are services being provided? Have targets and aim to progress Defined Supporting Processes 2-7
Building a Capacity Management Process - Process Definition The items needed, from whom, when and based on what criteria The items to be produced, who receives them and based on what requirements The linkages to other sets of activities that may be critical to performance and capacity activities, (i.e. configuration information, budget planning, etc.) The single individual with enough authority to be responsible for making sure things work the way they should 2-8
Building a Capacity Management Process - Process Model Process Ownership Defined and communicated Objective In terms of results, measurements and benefits Suppliers Process Requirements / Supplier Inputs Inputs Sub processes These identify the major activities which should be performed in order to meet the process objective Customers Customer Requirements / Process Outputs Outputs Measurements Process control information and reports to highlight where efficiency and effectiveness can be improved 2-9
Building a Capacity Management Process - Benefits of Employing Best Practice Capacity Management Potential Benefit Lower acquisition costs Realised Through More accurate capacity plans giving more lead time for negotiation with suppliers Manifestation of Results 5-10% lower acquisition cost due to better timing and volume purchases Hardware acquisition deferrals Timely rollout of application changes with minimal disruption Workload re-balancing Workload optimisation Better timing of application rollouts Plans built with 6-12 months advance notice of requirements and changes Collect and analyse capacity information at each project phase Forecasts based on current application design and business volume information 10-15% reduction of server capacity 3-9 month deferral of upgrades without compromise in quality of service delivery Costly application rollouts on-time achieving planned service levels Planned project benefits received earlier; penalties avoided Redirect crisis energies onto business issues Improved quality of service delivery to business areas Proactive capacity tracking, monitoring and forecasting Periodic and consistent feedback to business areas Capacity status reports Capacity impact studies More than 70% of "fire-fighting time eliminated. Improved business satisfaction and communications Business and IT partnership in solving IT service issues Realistic business volume estimates leading to more accurate plans 2-10
Building a Capacity Management Process - Interfaces to Other Processes Process Availability Management Budget Planning Change Management Chargeback Configuration Management Business Continuity Planning Facilities Management Problem Management Procurement Project Management Service Level Management Strategic Planning Technology Planning Description Manages the availability of hardware, software, network, and facilities. Converts individual plans into financial terms and identifies how funds will be obtained and allocated. Tracks and manages changes to the production environment Applies service rates to IT resources to determine costs and charges the users Develops detailed designs of hardware and software configurations including tracking the IT inventory Determines the procedures, facilities, equipment, and configurations needed to recover from outages or disasters Plans the physical installation of IT resources, installs, tests, and maintains the equipment Manages reporting, tracking, and resolution of IT problems Recommends the best financial alternative to meet a client's need for IT resources and administers the purchase/lease of equipment and services Provides the methodologies for managing projects and enforces the use of those methodologies Manages service levels committed to the clients Develops strategic plans for the company including strategic IT plans to match the business objectives Evaluates emerging technologies and develops plans for inclusion of new technologies 2-11
Building a Capacity Management Process - Process Ownership Single person responsible for the process execution and results Solicits participation from other functions Owner must be senior, i.e. must have sufficient authority and position in organisation to allow the process to work 2-12
Building a Capacity Management Process - Roles, Responsibilities and Skills Roles Set of tasks to be performed in support of a process activity Not a description of an individual, job or department but what needs to be done For example: The Capacity Planner manages the production of the enterprisewide capacity plan Responsibilities Specify HOW the role is carried out For example: Collects and analyses the business plan and development plans for Service xyz Skills Required based on the roles and responsibilities For example: Able to communicate with business and IT colleagues 2-13
Building a Capacity Management Process - Activities Activities are what need to be done to execute the process Capacity and Performance activities may be: Measure business volumes Measure resource utilisation Gather business driver growth Model business volumes to resource utilisation Evaluate hardware configurations given forecasted growth Activities consist of many tasks 2-14
Building a Capacity Management Process - Tasks Tasks are the steps required to accomplish the activity An example is given here: Activity 1 Evaluate hardware configurations given forecasted growth Gather the business objectives, service requirements, technology pathways and application and workload growth projections. Be aware of the policies surrounding the budget and the capacity and performance management guidelines that are in place. Task Description 1.1 Review budget policy, business objectives, technology pathways. 1.2 Obtain IT growth estimates (previously translated from business growth requirements) 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Produce options for capacity solutions based on previous steps 2-15
Building a Capacity Management Process - Activity Measurements and Process Improvement Metrics Activity Measurement used for managing and evaluating the process Very detailed For example: The percentage of service lines with defined capacity drivers Process Improvement Metrics only in place after the process has been allowed to settle in Effectiveness % of time response time goals met Efficiency average cost of producing capacity plan Adaptability ability to accommodate change % of changes requested that are completed 2-16
Stop Press ITIL 3 The Capacity Management Process Review current capacity & performance Improve current service & component capacity Capacity Management Information System (CMIS) Capacity & performance reports & data Assess, agree & document new requirements & capacity Forecasts Plan new capacity Capacity Plan 2-17
Service Portfolio Business Requirements ITIL 3 Capacity Management sub-processes Review current capacity & performance Capacity & performance reports & data Business Capacity Management Improve current service & component capacity Capacity Management Information System (CMIS) SLA/SLR IT service design Assess, agree & document new requirements & capacity Service Capacity Management Plan new capacity Forecasts Component Capacity Management Capacity Management Tools Capacity Plan 2-18
ITIL 3 Tasks and Activities Business Capacity Management Assist with agreeing SLAs Design, procure or amend service configuration Verify SLA Support SLA negotiation Control and Implementation Component Capacity Management Tuning and optimisation Utilisation monitoring Response time monitoring Modelling and trending 2-19
ITIL Self-Assessment Level 1: Pre-requisites Level 1.5: Management Intent Level 2: Process Capability Level 2.5: Internal Integration Level 3: Products Level 3.5: Quality Control Level 4: Management Information Level 4.5: External Integration Level 5: Customer Interface 58 questions each with 2 possible answers (Yes/No) 2-20
ITIL Self Assessment - Results 2-21
ITIL Self Assessment - Analysis 2-22
Improving the Capacity Management Self Assessment ITIL is best practice and the self assessment is very black and white the organisation is either compliant or it isn t In reality everything is a shade of grey We need to be able to measure to what extent an organisation is compliant Reduce the number of questions Increase the number of answers 2-23
Improving the Capacity Management Self Assessment 12. Are services detailed in SLA s monitored, measured and growth/performance predicted? (Level 2: Process Capability) That s four different questions The answers could be different for different services 16. Do you model systems behaviour under various workloads and provide tuning recommendations? (Level 2: Process Capability) These two things are quite disparate and should not be together 19. Are end-to-end service response times monitored? (Level 2: Process Capability) For how many services/platforms? Are the response times split per platform? Are the response times split by component (CPU, CPU wait, I/O, I/O queue )? 2-24
Improving the Capacity Management Self Assessment 28. Do you maintain a Capacity Plan? (Level 3: Products) For how many services/platforms? 36. Does the organisation have suitable tools to support capacity management activities? (Level 3.5: Quality Control) Should be split by activity monitoring, modelling. Or split by platform/service. What is a suitable tool? Microsoft Excel? If the activities are carried out do we need to ask about tools? If they re not carried out why not (its probably not lack of sufficient tools)? Level 4: Management Information (Q 37-43) Does Capacity Management provide information regarding? For how many services/platforms? To whom? 2-25
Improving the Capacity Management Self Assessment Level 4.5: External Integration (Q 44-53) Does Capacity Management exchange information with? For how many services/platforms? Is the relationship formalised? Is it sufficient? Level 5: Customer Interface (Q54-58) Questions don t differentiate between customers. Some customers may not be defined Some customers may be differently treated to others 2-26
Improving the Capacity Management Self Assessment A short self assessment aimed at adding more value has been developed It allows organisations to answer to what exten they do recommended activities 2-27
Improving the Capacity Management Self Assessment Examples 2-28
Improving the Capacity Management Self Assessment 2-29
Improving the Capacity Management Self Assessment A self assessment is not intended to give a complete, detailed version of events Although internal audits can create the motivation to make improvements they tend to be about looking for evidence that proves the organisation did something at least once A regular independent audit is recommended 2-30
Improving the Capacity Management Self Assessment 2-31
Improving the Capacity Management Self Assessment Business Volume Forecasts Name Best Practice Best Reviewed (per category) Best Reviewed (Overall) Average (All) A Collected for all Applications 10 7.5 7.5 5.0 B Period matches resource utilisation forecast requirements 10 6 6 4.8 C Granularity matches resource utilisation forecast requirements 10 6 6 4.8 D Split by Type (e.g. Product) 10 6.5 6.5 4.6 Overall Business Volume Forecasts - Overall 10.0 6.5 6.5 4.8 2-32
Improving the Capacity Management Self Assessment Business Volume Forecasts 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Best Practice Best Reviewed (per category) Best Reviewed (Overall) Average (All) Customer ABC D C B A 2-33
Summary ITIL has some strengths, use the framework and other organisations experiences Follow the ITIL suggestion of a Continual Service Improvement Plan Define the requirements, responsibilities and deliverables Carry out a self-assessment to understand where you are now Consider an independent assessment (no baggage ) When the process is in place, re-assess (either self or independent) and issue customer satisfaction surveys (choose customers carefully) Do you really need to attain best practice 2-34