TECHNOLOGY BRIEF: SERVICE CATALOG MANAGEMENT

Service Catalog Management:

A CA Service Management
Process Map
JULY 2009
Enrico Boverino
SR PRI NCI PAL CONSULTANT, TECHNI CAL SALES
I TI L SERVI CE MANAGER
I TAC CERTI FI ED
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary 1
SECTION 1: CHALLENGE 2
Simplifying ITIL
How to Use the CA Service Management
Process Maps 2
SECTION 2: OPPORTUNITY 4
Service Catalog Management
Document Service Definition 6
Build Catalog Contents 6
Business Service Views 6
Technical Service Views 7
Publish Live Services 7
Optimizing the Service Catalog
Management Journey 8
SECTION 3: BENEFITS 9
Benefits
SECTION 4: CONCLUSIONS 9
Conclusions
SECTION 5: ABOUT THE AUTHOR 9
Abou the Author
TECHNOLOGY BRIEF: SERVICE CATALOG MANAGEMENT 1
Executive Summary
Challenge
The Information Technology Infrastructure Library version 3 (ITIL V3) process framework
approaches IT Service Management (ITSM) from the lifecycle of a service. The Service
Lifecycle is an organization model providing insight into the way ITSM is structured, and
embodies critical guidance for IT organizations seeking to improve service quality and align
more closely with business goals to create value for the business and its customers.
ITIL V3 best practice guidelines across the five phases of the service lifecycle are complex
and challenging to interpret. Moreover, they are not designed to provide definitive advice
about implementing ITSM processes. Many IT organizations consequently undertake an
ITIL journey without a firm idea of their goals and the path to achieve those goals.
Todays IT leaders must exhibit strong fiscal responsibility and discipline, seeking out ways
to position the IT organization as the businesses service provider of choice. To do this, IT
must be competitive, marketing the services it provides, be financially transparent, charge
for everything it does, and benchmark what it delivers against the competition.
It is imperative for IT to be part of the overall business change process, to understand the
strategy and requirements of the business and then plan for the delivery of a service to
meet the agreed needs. Service Design plays a fundamental role with this overall business
change process and the service catalog becomes the necessary repository where IT
presents the available services to its consumers.
Opportunity
When looking at Service Catalog Management, the journey towards the publishing of a
complete list of operational services may encounter several obstacles if it is not completely
derailed. We will explore the best practice guidelines to ensure that a service catalog is
produced, maintained and contains accurate information on agreed services widely
available to those who are approved to access it.
CAhas developed a unique approach to representing the ITIL framework and its interdependent
IT Service Management processes at a high level in the form of an easy-to-use subway
map. This map is an ideal starting point for understanding and communicating about ITIL
in support of successful program planning and implementation.
Benefits
The CAService Catalog Management process map provides IT with control over internal
initiatives to develop, deliver and support the required services while establishing a
partnership with its consumers who will receive the agreed services at the expected level and
price. Benefits include:
Creating a service driven culture elevating the perception of the IT organization to a
Service Provider
Providing a source of reliable information to manage investments
Increasing customer satisfaction and allowing them to choose the correct level of IT
service for their needs
Setting the stage for a formal Service Level Management process
Building the foundation to manage Service Requests
Simplifying ITIL
The ITIL V3 process framework focuses on the service lifecycle and the way that service
management components are structured and linked. It embodies critical guidance for
IT organizations that are seeking to improve service quality and align more closely with
business goals
But, the ITIL V3 best-practice guidelines across the five phases of the service lifecycle are
complex and challenging to interpret. Moreover, they are not designed to provide definitive
advice about implementing IT Service Management (ITSM) processes. Many IT organizations
consequently undertake an ITIL journey without a firm idea of their goals and the path to
achieve those goals.
CAhas developed a unique approach to charting the ITIL journey through a visual representation
of the ITIL framework and its interdependent ITSM processes modeled after an urban subway
system. This three-part map (Figure A) presents an easy-to-navigate, high-level view of the
ITIL terrain. IT executives, strategists and implementers can use these Service Management
process maps along with the family of CA Service Management process map technology briefs
that expand on them. The maps and technology briefs provide a common reference point for
understanding and communicating about ITIL and help you with program planning and
implementation.
How to Use the CA Service Management Process Maps
CAs Service Management process maps (Figure A) illustrate every process (or track), each
activity (or station) and the key relationships that are relevant to navigating continuous IT
service improvement. The ITIL quality cycle takes the form of a circle with each Plan-Do-
Check-Act (P-D-C-A) step as a process integration point (junction) on the line. Junctions
serve both as reference points when assessing process maturity, and as a means to consider
the implications of implementing a process in isolation.
Strategic controls (Service Portfolio Management, Demand Management and Financial
Management) are needed to reduce risk and optimize integration across the service lifecycle,
as illustrated on the three points of the triangle centered in the P-D-C-A quality circle (seen
more easily in Figure B). These strategic controls help in evaluating, prioritizing and assuring
the appropriate levels of financial and human resources for existing and new services.
This paper is part of a series of Service Management Process Map technology briefs. Each brief
explains how to navigate a particular ITIL process journey, reviewing each process activity that
must be addressed in order to achieve process objectives. Along each journey careful attention
is paid to how technology plays a critical role in both integrating ITIL processes and automating
ITIL process activities.
SECTION 1: CHALLENGE
2 TECHNOLOGY BRIEF: SERVICE CATALOG MANAGEMENT
CA ITSM Process Maps
illustrate at a high level
how best to navigate a
journey of continual service
improvement guided by
strategic controls throughout
the service lifecycle. Each
map describes the relevant
ITIL processes and activities
youll need to work with to
reach your goals.
THREE MAPS
SERVICE DESIGN MAP
TECHNOLOGY BRIEF: SERVICE CATALOG MANAGEMENT 3
Service Design
Service Catalog Management
Service Level Management
IT Service Continuity Management
Capacity Management
Info. Security Management
Availability Management
Key Intersections
Strategic Controls
Strategic Inputs
Continual Service
Improvement
Service Level
Management
Service Level
Management
IT Service
Continuity
Management
IT Service
Continuity
Management
Capacity
Management
Capacity
Management
Info. Security
Management
Info. Security
Management
Availability
Management
Availability
Management
Service Catalog
Management
Service Catalog
Management
Demand
Management
Service Portfolio
Management
Financial
Management
Review
and Audit
Manage
Security Incidents
Optimize
Availability
Mitigate Risk
Monitor
Services
Methods/
Techniques
Document
Service
Definition
Build Catalog
Contents
Business
Service
Views
Technical
Service
Views
Publish
Live Services
Report
Achievements
Manage
Issues
Catalog
Operational
Services
Monitor
Performance
Design SLA
Framework
Revise
SLAs / OLAs
Meet Business
Requirements
Service
Review
Customer
Satisfaction
Determine
Vulnerabilities
Assess Risk
Build
Test
Maintain
Business
Services
Specify
Continuity
Requirements
Monitor
Demand
Adjust and Tune
Deliver
Required
Resources
Analyze
Test
Proactive
Management
Analyze
Performance
Build Plan
Forecast
Requirements
Set Security
Controls
Assess &
Classify Assets
Maintain
Policy
Model/Trend
D
O
C
H
E
C
K
P
L
A
NA
C
T
FIGURE A
CA has developed three maps:
Service Design, Service Transition
and Service Operation since most
ITSM discussions focus on these
critical ITIL disciplines.
FIGURE B
The Service Design map represents a
journey of developing and improving
capabilities for the design of new and
modified services to production.
Service Design
Service Catalog Management
Service Level Management
IT Service Continuity Management
Capacity Management
Info. Security Management
Availability Management
Key Intersections
Strategic Controls
Strategic Inputs
Continual Service
Improvement
Service Level
Management
Service Level
Management
IT Service
Continuity
Management
IT Service
Continuity
Management
Capacity
Management
Capacity
Management
Info. Security
Management
Info. Security
Management
Availability
Management
Availability
Management
Service Catalog
Management
Service Catalog
Management
Demand Management
Service Portfolio Management
Financial Management
Review and Audit
Manage Security Incidents
Optimize
Availability
Mitigate Risk
Monitor Services
Methods/ Techniques
Document Service Definition
Build Catalog Contents
Business Service Views
Technical Service Views
Publish Live Services
Report Achievements
Manage Issues
Catalog
Operational
Services
Monitor Performance Design SLA Framework Revise SLAs / OLAs
Meet Business
Requirements
Service Review Customer Satisfaction
Determine
Vulnerabilities
Assess Risk
Build
Test
Maintain
Business
Services
Specify
Continuity
Requirements
Monitor Demand
Adjust and Tune
Deliver
Required
Resources
Analyze
Test
Proactive Management
Analyze Performance
Build Plan
Forecast Requirements
Set Security Controls
Assess & Classify Assets
Maintain Policy
Model/Trend
DO
CHECK
P L A NA C T
Service Operation
Problem Management
Incident Management
Event Management
Request Fulfillment
Knowledge Management
Access Management
Key Intersections
Strategic Controls
Strategic Inputs
Continual Service
Improvement
Informed
Decisions
Fulfillment
Approval (Financial, Compliance)
Capture Info.
Prevent and
Eliminate
Problems
Record
Resolve
Monitor / Track
Service Request (Incl. Self-Service)
Access Request
Verify
Problem Control Known Errors
Record
Review/ Action
Select Response
Filter / Correlate Detect (Incl. Fault Detection)
Raise Incident
Investigate
Diagnose
Escalate
Resolve/ Recover
Work Around
Restore
Service
Deliver
Standardized
Services
Automate
and Control
Secure
Service Access
Error Control
Executive Policy Provide Rights Transfer/ Disseminate
Store Info.
Demand Management
Transform to Usable Knowledge
Financial Management
Service Portfolio Management DO
CHECK
P L A NA C T
Problem
Management
Problem
Management
Knowledge
Management
Knowledge
Management
Access
Management
Access
Management
Request
Fulfillment
Request
Fulfillment
Incident
Management
Incident
Management
Event
Management
Event
Management
Service Transition
Service Validation and Testing
Service Asset and Configuration
Management
Change Management
Transition Planning and Support
Release and Deployment
Management
Key Intersections
Strategic Controls
Strategic Inputs
Continual Service
Improvement
Prioritize
Build Schedule
Impact Analysis
Execute (Emergency/ Standard)
Schedule Change
CAB Review
Evaluation/ Decision
RFC Analysis
Categorize
Planning
Preparation
Develop Strategy
Preparation andPlanning
Knowledge Transfer
Monitor andReport
Manage Build/Release
Financial Management Demand Management
ServicePortfolio Management
Deploy
Verify
Perform Tests
Validate & Verify
Adopt Best Practices
Ensure
Release
Value
Report/ Closure
Assure
Quality
Audit
Status Reports
Maintain Accurate
Service Configurations
Coordinate
Resources
Business
Responsiveness
Configuration Control
Identify Configurations
Manage and Plan
DO
CHECK
P L A NA C T
Transition
Planning and
Support
Transition
Planning and
Support
Release and
Deployment
Management
Release and
Deployment
Management
Change
Management
Change
Management
Service Asset and
Configuration
Management
Service Asset and
Configuration
Management
Service
Validation
and Testing
Service
Validation
and Testing
4 TECHNOLOGY BRIEF: SERVICE CATALOG MANAGEMENT
Finding the Right Path to IT Service Excellence
Requests for IT services exceed the supply of available time and resources for most IT
organizations. IT service teams in large corporations are constantly responding to requests
from the business, often falling into the mode of reacting first to the end users who make the
most noise. Meanwhile, employees complain that IT is difficult to work with, unresponsive, and
takes too long to fulfill the services they need to do their job.
That challenge is only compounded by the fact that each group within the IT organization
usually has a different system in place for managing requests. And while IT is constantly busy,
staff members are hindered by manual and inefficient processes or working on tasks that
may not be a top priority for the business.
There is a way to bring order to this chaos: by establishing standardized and repeatable
services and then publishing them in a self-service portal for IT consumers the IT
organization can provide a consistent way for users to request IT services and track the
fulfillment for any request.
Service Catalog Management
When looking at ITIL v3, it really seems that companies are ready to take on the next level of
Service Management maturity.
ITIL v3 reinforces several of the guidelines existing in the previous versions and raises the
boundaries around the achievable objectives of a Service Management improvement program
with the approach to Service Management from the service lifecycle.
The Service Design phase allows IT organizations to integrate to the business change process
ensuring that the solution meets the defined requirements.
Once a strategic decision to create a service is made, Service Design begins architecting the
service and manages the required activities through a Service Portfolio containing information
relating to every service and its current status within the organization.
Within Service Design, the service catalog plays a fundamental role allowing access to those
services within the Service Portfolio that are planned for operations (Chartered) or deemed
operational.
The service catalog can be considered an output of Service Portfolio, from which it receives
the input, providing a central source of information on the IT services that can be delivered
to the business with accurate details and status. For this reason the service catalog should
contain a definition of the IT services in use that the customers can understand, and the levels
and quality of service they can request.
Like Service Portfolio Management as described in the Service Strategy publication, which
owns and manages the Service Portfolio, the Service Catalog Management process is
responsible for maintaining the service catalog and ensuring that the new or changed services
in the Portfolio are migrated into the live environment through the Service Transition activities.
SECTION 2: OPPORTUNITY
By following the Service Catalog Management process, IT organizations will be able to produce
and maintain a service catalog containing accurate information on all services and those being
prepared to be run operationally.
This will bring enormous benefits both internally and externally to IT. Internally, IT
organizations will be able to develop and release services according to the requirements
derived from business strategies. Externally, IT consumers can understand IT direction and
request services and service levels that IT is ready to produce.
The major stations along the Service Catalog Management track include:
Document the definition of the service
Production and maintenance of an accurate service catalog
Create a Catalog Business Service View interfacing with the business represented by the
Service Portfolio
Create a Catalog Technical Service View interfacing with all the supporting services
represented by the Configuration Management System
Publish Live Services
Lets review the Service Catalog Management process (or track) (Figure C) assessing each
critical process activity (or station), and examine how technology can be applied to optimize
each stage of the journey, ensuring arrival at the process terminus the management of
catalog operational services.
THE SERVICE CATALOG MANAGEMENT PROCESS JOURNEY
TECHNOLOGY BRIEF: SERVICE CATALOG MANAGEMENT 5
D
O
C
H
E
C
K
P
L
A
NA
C
T
Service Catalog
Management
Service Catalog
Management
Document
Service
Definition
Build Catalog
Contents
Business
Service
Views
Technical
Service
Views
Publish
Live Services
Catalog
Operational
Services
Demand
Management
Service Portfolio
Management
Financial
Management
FIGURE C
The CA Service Catalog Management
track represents the main activities
towards design and delivery of relevant
services based on contracted
agreements for function, cost
and quality.
While many tools are
available to manage a
service catalog, most IT
organizations lack the ability
to correlate service offerings
with the Service Portfolio and
the supporting services, and
to control the changes
through a formal process.
Document Service Definition
To gain agreement and document the definition of a service is the first and probably the most
challenging station.
What is a service? This question is not easy to answer and many IT organizations have spent
a lot of time to come up with a clear definition. ITIL v3 introduces a definition that sets the
standard for years to come: A service is a means of delivering value to customers by facilitating
outcomes customers want to achieve without the ownership of specific costs and risks.
The triggers to Service Catalog Management are the changes in the business requirements and
services. The IT organization should receive business information input from the organizations
business to develop IT strategy and, financial plans based on current and future requirements
from the service portfolio. This will allow the service catalog to accurately describe the services
that will need to be published. Information includes agreed upon details about service levels,
time to market, and relationships to the business process that rely on the IT services.
The definition of the services would also include the business units that will be able to request
the service and the business owner and service manager that will approve the requests.
Build Catalog Contents
At this station, services are produced and maintained in the service catalog such as
documenting the details and the status of all operational services and those being transitioned
to the production.
Once the service definition and all related information are documented, IT can build the service
catalog content, an activity that includes how to organize the service offerings and how to
present all of the agreed details to the consumer.
This may result in unforeseen difficulties because of the complexity of the service definition.
Most of the time a service can be made up of other services, which are made up of several IT
infrastructure components including hardware, applications, networks and data.
It can be very helpful to define a hierarchy of services within the service catalog, by qualifying
and grouping the types of services recorded. For example: business service, supporting
services, infrastructure services, network services and application services. Asking customers
which IT services they use and how those services support their business processes can be
a very good way to facilitate this activity. Filling pre defined service definition templates and
distributing them for review and approval among the main stakeholders will facilitate the task.
Business Service Views
As we enter this station, the journey towards the Catalog of Operational Services continues
with the creation of business service views. The Business Service Catalog contains details of
all the IT services delivered to the customer, with descriptions and details that the customer
understands, together with relationships to the business units and the business processes that
rely on the IT services.
6 TECHNOLOGY BRIEF: SERVICE CATALOG MANAGEMENT
The business service view is the customer view of the service catalog and facilitates the
development of a much more proactive Service Level Management process.
Technology solutions can help to generate the business service views allowing IT to decide
which services can be selected, how many times, what are the possible combinations of
options that can be associated to a service, and the service levels that can be requested.
Technical Service Views
Because of the structure of IT services, there are many supporting services that are and should
remain completely invisible to the customers, but are essential to the delivery of IT services.
The Technical Service Catalog, which should not be part of the Business View, contains details
of all the IT services delivered to the customer, together with relationships to the supporting
services, components and configuration items (CIs) necessary to support the delivery of the
service to the business.
Some organizations may decide to maintain only a business service catalog or a technical
service catalog, however the preferred situation adopted by the more mature organizations
maintains both aspects within a single service catalog that is role based. It allows different
users to access the business and/or the technical views.
Publish Live Services
As this station, an IT organization is now ready to publish the service catalog to its customers.
The adoption of a web based interface to allow access to the offered services is the natural
solution.
It is good practice to perform usability studies and performance tests well in advance, taking
into consideration the many types of employees and levels that could exist within your
corporate structure. It is important to consider the roles that users have in their business units
and organization policies. Can they create a service request on behalf of others, and can they
approve service requests? Can they cancel service requests once submitted? When these
aspects are automatically supported by the technology it makes the IT organizations life much
easier to facilitate the introduction of a new system.
Testing the service catalog implies testing technical functionality, which is objective in nature,
and usability testing which is more subjective. Both are important to the overall success and
adoption of the catalog.
ITIL v3 Service Operation publication contains the description of a new process Request
Fulfillment with the best practice recommendations about managing service requests
generated from the service catalog.
TECHNOLOGY BRIEF: SERVICE CATALOG MANAGEMENT 7
Optimizing the Service Catalog Management Journey
SUBWAY MAP INTERSECTIONS
As described in the new ITIL v3 publications, Business Service Management (BSM) is a
strategy to enable IT services and their components to be linked to the goals of the business
and to adapt to business changes. The availability of an integrated service catalog is crucial to
increasing the IT service providers capability to deliver BSM.
The creation and management of the service catalog is not a static initiative. The CA Service
Management process maps can help identify how the service catalog integrates with the other
Service Design processes and is governed by the strategic controls in the Service Strategy
triangle: Service Portfolio Management, Demand Management and Financial Management.
The information from strategic controls along with a streamlined service improvement program
will be used by the Service Catalog Management process to improve and optimize the service
catalog over time.
An initially acceptable service catalog consisting of a matrix or spreadsheet will need to evolve
to a Web-based integrated solution that allows IT organizations to manage the activities of the
service catalog and the integrations with Service Portfolio Management and the Configuration
Management System (CMS). It is therefore essential that changes within the service portfolio
and service catalog are subject to the Change Management process.
For instance, each service can be defined as a CI and the CMS identifies the relationships of
the service components to enable IT organization to relate incidents and Request For Changes
(RFC) to the services affected, providing the foundation for service monitoring and reporting
using an integrated tool.
8 TECHNOLOGY BRIEF: SERVICE CATALOG MANAGEMENT
FIGURE D
The Service Catalog Management
track intersections points with
Information Security, Availability,
Capacity, Service Level and IT
Continuity Management show the
integration inputs/outputs required
between all those processes.
Demand
Management
Service Portfolio
Management
Financial
Management
Review
and Audit
Manage
Security Incidents
Optimize
Availability
Mitigate Risk
Document
Service
Definition
Build Catalog
Contents
Business
Service
Views
Technical
Service
Views
Publish
Live Services
Monitor
Performance
Design
Frame
Revise
SLAs / OLAs
Service
Review
Customer
Satisfaction
Determine
Vulnerabilities
Assess Risk
Analyze
Test
Proactive
Management
Forecast
Requirements
Model/Trend
D
O
C
H
E
C
K
P
L
A
N
A
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T
Benefits
The service catalog provides a view of the IT services delivered ensuring that all areas of the
business can have an accurate picture of their respective services, their details and their status.
The benefits of implementing the Service Catalog Management process in line with ITIL best
practices include:
Creating a service driven culture elevating the perception of the IT organization to a Service
Provider
Providing a source of reliable information to manage investments
Increasing customer satisfaction allowing to choose the correct level of IT service for their
needs
Setting the stage for a formal Service Level Management process
Building the foundation to manage Service Requests
Conclusions
The Service Catalog Management process is responsible to produce and maintain the
information contained in the service catalog on all services and those being prepared to
be run operationally and ensure that information on agreed services are widely available
to those who are approved to access it.
Technology can play a critical role in optimizing the Service Catalog Management process,
by automating the actual process activities themselves (such as building service offerings
and business unit structure), and by accessing the outputs from other related processes.
Integration with other processes (especially Service Portfolio Management, Change
Management, Configuration Management System and Service Level Management) is vitally
important to ensure that the service catalog is kept updated and accessible.
About the Author
Enrico Boverino is a Senior Principal Consultant of CAs Business Service Management
solutions, certified ITIL Manager and author of many best practices documents and Solution
Architectures. With more than 10 years experience at CA, Enrico has led numerous technology
implementations and is today a Trusted Advisor with CAs most strategic customers to
understand their EITM/BSM objectives, provide a road map and lead them in their ITIL journey.
Boverino holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Pavia, Italy.
To learn more about the CA ITIL solutions, visit ca.com/itil.
TECHNOLOGY BRIEF: SERVICE CATALOG MANAGEMENT 9
SECTION 3: BENEFITS
SECTION 4: CONCLUSIONS
SECTION 5: ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CA, one of the worlds largest information technology (IT)
management software companies, unifies and simplifies
the management of enterprise-wide IT for greater business
results. Our vision, tools and expertise help customers
manage risk, improve service, manage costs and align their
IT investments with their business needs.
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