B1.3

Question 1

When to apply CSI (Which stage)

Answer 1

CSI is something that should be applied throughout the lifecycle for new or amended services as they are conceived (service strategy), designed (service design), rolled out (service transition) and used (service operation)

Question 2

SLR part of design service

Answer 2

Setting requirements for minimum levels of service (SLRs) such as this are considered in ITIL to be part of the design of a service rather than CSI.

Question 3

Metrics

Answer 3

measurements of how well services are being provided

Question 4

service degradation

Answer 4

Keeping services exactly as they are at the moment would lead very quickly to loss of market share, poorer business outcomes and reduced value to customers, simply because everybody else would be improving their service provision.

Question 5

Deming cycle

Answer 5

‘Plan–Do–Check–Act’ (PDCA) cycle

Question 6

PDCA

Answer 6

• deciding what you want to do and how you can achieve it (Plan)
• implementing whatever change you have planned (Do)
• evaluating the impact of your implementation – did it work, how well, etc. (Check)
• deciding whether you now need to make further changes (Act).

Question 7

CSI Approach is missing the Do stage. Why is that?

Answer 7

The ‘DO’ stage has to do with the implementation which can take the form of a project. That’s not part of service management. ITIL is concerned with the management of change and service improvement, rather than with the technical implementation.

Question 8

What makes a good metric

Answer 8

it’s simply a question of choosing metrics that are relevant and appropriate, and that actually tell you something about the way a service is performing. Knowing how well a service is performing

Question 9

CSI uses three types of metric

Answer 9

• Technology metrics (underlying components performance)
• Process metrics (service management process effectiveness)
• Service metrics (effectiveness of service provided to customers)

Question 10

Baseline

Answer 10

Pre-collected data that the impact of a change can be measured against.

Question 11

CFS - Critical Success Factors

Answer 11

CSFs are things that are necessary for the vision to be realised

Question 12

KPI (Key Performance Indicators)

Answer 12

key performance indicators (KPIs) describe the extent to which a CSF has been achieved.

Question 13

KPI threshold

Answer 13

KPI target threshold will normally be some change from its current value. However, services are unlikely to be able to change immediately, so we might aim to achieve the threshold by the end of a particular period.

Question 14

critical success factors

Answer 14

things that must be happening in order to achieve that outcome

Question 15

critical success factors aren’t usually measurable

Answer 15

so we look for metrics we can use to confirm how well we’re meeting the CSFs

Question 16

seven-step improvement process

Answer 16

The seven steps in the process are:

1. Identify the strategy for improvement. (P)
2. Define what is to be measured. (P)
3. Gather the data. (D)
4. Process the data. (C)
5. Analyse the information.(C)
6. Present and use the information. (A)
7. Implement improvement. (A)

Question 17

CSI register

Answer 17

The CSI approach may suggest several possible service improvements. These are recorded in the CSI register, whether or not they are selected for immediate implementation.

Question 18

CSI is about…

Answer 18

looking at (which often means measuring) the services you are offering to customers and users, and identifying and implementing improvements to those services.

Question 19

CSI focuses …

Answer 19

specifically on the services themselves and not on the technology.