Introduction to Service Management Flashcards
What is a service?
A service is a means of delivering value to customers by facilitating the outcomes customers want to achieve.
What is an outcome?
An outcome is the result of carrying out an activity, following a process, delivering a service, etc. (It can stand for intended results, as well as actual results).
What is an IT service? How is it different from a generic service?
An IT service is a service delivered by an IT service provider, and is made up of a combination of Information Technology, people, and processes.
Why are services so valuable, over goods?
A service, unlike a good, is divorced from the risks and costs that can come from owning a good.
What are customer-facing services? What forms are there?
Customer-facing services are services that can be seen by the customer? There are three forms:
- Internal Customer-Facing: An IT service that directly supports a process managed by another business unit.
- External Customer-Facing: An IT service that is directly provided to an external customer.
- Supporting: A supporting service is not used directly by the business, but is required by the service provider to deliver customer-facing services (ex. A backup service).
Why do we differentiate between internal and external customer-facing services?
We differentiate between internal and external customer-facing services because we want to be able to distinguish between services that support an internal business activity, and those that actually achieve business outcomes/goals. The difference makes a big deal in the visible contribution to the business’s goals.
What are the three categories that all services, internal or external, can be categorized into?
Core Services - Core services deliver the basic outcomes that the customer desires. These are what the customer is willing to pay money for.
Enabling Services - Enabling services are the services necessary to deliver a core service. They’re not offered to the customer directly, but in a way are still used by them.
Enhancing Services - Enhancing services are services that add on to a core service to make it more attractive to the customer. They don’t fulfill customer requirements, but instead enhance the experience.
What is a service package?
A service package is a collection of two or more services that have been combined to offer a solution to a specific type of customer/business need. A package can contain any number of the three forms of service, as well as other service packages.
Define how the value of a service is determined.
The value of a service is determined by the level to which the service meets a customer’s expectations, or allows them to achieve their business goals. This means the value of a service can vary from customer to customer.
When does a service contribute value to an organization?
A service only contributes value to an organization when its value is perceived to be higher than the cost of obtaining it. That is, the cost to use the service is outweighed by the benefit of using it.
What are the two factors that make up a service’s value?
Utility - What the customer gets from the service (also known as “fitness for purpose”). This is the functionality of the product or service in meeting a particular need, or to put it simply, what it does.
Warranty - How the service is delivered (also known as “fitness for use”). This is the assurance that the service will meet its agreed requirements. It refers to the service’s availability, continuity, and security, or to put it simply, how it’s delivered.
What is a service asset?
A service asset is any resource or capability used by a service provider to deliver services to a customer.
What is a resource?
A resource is a generic term for anything that might help to deliver an IT service. This could include things like infrastructure, people, money, and so on. Resources are considered assets of their organization. Duh.
What is a capability?
A capability is the ability to carry out an activity. Capabilities are very nebulous, but are possessed by people, processes, applications, other services, etc. Capabilities are the intangible assets of an organization, and are generally knowledge-intensive, experience-driven, information-based, and rooted in the organization’s people, processes, and technologies (they are the result of these).
Which is harder for other organizations to duplicate, resources or capabilities? Why is that?
It is much harder for organizations to duplicate capabilities. Capabilities are developed over time, through the acquisition and use of resources.
What are some examples of resources?
Some examples of resources would be things like capital, infrastructure, applications, information, and people (as in, the number of).
What are some examples of capabilities?
Some examples of capabilities are management, organization & structure, processes, knowledge, and people (as in, experience, skills, relationships).
What is a Service Design Package?
A service design package is a set of documents (or just one document) that defines all aspects of a service and its requirements through its entire lifecycle.
What is an Operational Level Agreement?
An operational level agreement is an agreement that is necessary to deliver the quality of service agreed to in the service level agreement.
What are the main goals of service management?
The main goals of service management are to:
- Understand the services the organization is providing.
- Ensure the services actually facilitate the outcomes the customers want.
- Understand the value of their services to the customer.
- Understand and manage the costs and risks associated with the services.
What is the “core” of service management?
The heart of service management is exploiting an organization’s resources, through the use of its capabilities, into services. It’s alchemy!
What does it take to be a stakeholder?
Stakeholders are anyone that has an interest in an organization, project, service, what have you.
What is a service provider?
A service provider is an organization supplying one or more services to customers, be they internal or external. Very simple.
What are the three types of service providers?
Type I - Internal Service Provider: An internal service provider is one that is embedded within a business unit.
Type II - Shared Services Unit: A shared services unit is an internal service provider that provides IT services to multiple business units.
Type III - External Service Provider: Guess. Just guess.
What is a customer?
A customer is anyone who buys goods or services. This could be anyone from a person to a corporation.
How is a customer of an IT service provider different from a standard customer?
In IT service provision, a customer is the person who defines and agrees to service level targets.
How is an internal customer different from an external one?
When payment is due, an internal customer does not use actual revenue to pay for services, but some form of internal transaction within the organization’s accounting system.
What is a user?
A user is a person who uses a service on a day-to-day basis. Not all customers are users, and not all users are customers. It’s important to consider the needs & happiness of the customer as well as the user.
What is a supplier?
A supplier is a third party responsible for supplying goods or services that are required to deliver a service.
What is a process?
A process is a structured set of activities designed to accomplish a specific task or objective. It takes one or more inputs, and changes them into pre-defined outputs.
How is a process deemed “effective”?
A process is considered effective when it can be repeated, measured, and managed, and when its output conforms to the process’s standards.
What are the four main characteristics of a process?
Measurability - The ability to measure the process in a relevant manner, in terms of performance. Things looked at will be cost, quality, and so on.
Specific Results - All processes exist to deliver a specific result.
Customers - Every process delivers its primary results to a customer (or other stakeholder), and it must meet their expectations.
Responsiveness to Specific Triggers - All processes are “kicked off” by a specific trigger.
What is a function?
A function is a team or group of people, and the tools or other resources they use to carry out one or more processes or activities. They can be broken apart and performed by several departments/teams/group/whatever, or one group can perform several functions.
What is a role?
A role is a set of responsibilities, activities, and authorities assigned to a person or team. A role is defined in a process or a function.
What are the key attributes that are most important for a role-holder?
A role-holder must be aware of the business’s objectives and how IT supports them, they must have good customer service skills, and have the skills & knowledge necessary to fill the role, and the knowledge & willingness to stick to best practice.
What does RACI stand for? What is a RACI authority matrix?
Responsible - The person or people responsible for getting things done.
Accountable - The person who has ownership of quality and the end result. Only one person can be accountable for each task.
Consulted - The people who are consulted and whose opinions are sought.
Informed - The people who are kept up to date on progress.
A RACI authority matrix is used to define roles and responsibilities in relation to processes and activities.
What is a service owner?
A service owner is the person who is accountable for a specific service within an organization, regardless of where the “underpinning technology components” and such reside.
What is a service owner responsible for?
A service owner is to be the “face” of the service. They should understand it, and work with the customers in order to represent them to the service and ensure it meets their requirements, improve it as needed, etc. They are accountable for it.
What is a process owner?
A process owner is the person who is accountable for ensuring that a process is “fit for purpose” (it’s utility). They are often also the process manager. Similar to the service owner, the process owner is accountable for their process.
What is a process owner responsible for?
The process owner is to be the person who manages the process and its metrics, its strategy, and its documentation. They aid in the process design and improvements.. They ensure those who are running the process are qualified and trained.
What is a process manager?
A process manager is the person accountable for the operational management of a process. There can be several of these.
What is a process manager responsible for?
A process manager is to work with the process owner on planning and coordinating process activities. They act as managers, appointing people to roles, monitoring the process, identifying areas for improvement (and making those improvements).
What is a practice practitioner?
A practice practitioner is the poor sod who carries out the process. Sometimes, this is combined with the process manager.
What is a process practitioner responsible for?
Obviously, performing the activities of a process, understanding how they play in to the completion of said process, and masking sure they do their jobs right.
What is a practice?
A practice is a way of working, or a way in which work must be done.
What is a best practice?
A best practice is a practice that has been verified as the most effective of its kind, having been verified by several organizations.
Why do we want to be able to tie an internal service to an external one?
We want to be able to tie an internal service to an external one in order to understand the internal service’s contribution to business outcomes.
Define core services.
Core services are those that deliver the basic outcomes desired by the customer. Basically, services that the customer is willing to pay for.
Define enabling service.
An enabling service is a service that is required to deliver a core service. They are usually not visible to customers, and even if they are, they’re not “purchasable”.
Define enhancing service.
An enhancing service is one that adds to a core service to make it more attractive to customers.
What is a service package?
A service package is a collection of two or more services that have been combined to offer a solution to a specific type of customer need, or to underpin specific business outcomes.
A service package can consist of a combination of core services, enabling services, enhancing services, and OTHER SERVICE PACKAGES.
Why are service packages useful?
Service packages allow for services to be pre-customized for a specific type of customer, changing components of the package or service levels of components to fit their needs.
What is an example or two of service packages?
Service packages can be seen in things like “business-class” seats in an airline, or VIP-programs at Disney world.
Where does the value of a service come from?
The value of a service comes from what it enables the customer to do; services aren’t intrinsically valued, like physical goods are.
What two elements make up the value of a service, from a business perspective? Define them.
The two elements that make up a service’s value are warranty and utility. Warranty is how a service is delivered, things like how fast of a connection you get, or the quality of what’s being delivered. Utility is the functionality itself, which would be things like an internet connection, or a meal.
Define service asset.
A service asset is defined as any resource or capacity used by a service provider to deliver services to the customer.
Define resource.
A resource is a general term for anything that might help to deliver an IT service. All resources are, by default, assets.
Define capability.
A capability is the ability of an organization (or person, process, robot, whatever) to carry out an activity. Capacities are also assets, but they’re intangible.
What is easier to acquire, resources or capabilities? Why?
Resources are far easier to acquire than capabilities, because resources can be purchased or hired, capabilities are far more experience-dependent.
Define business process.
A business process is the actual process being carried out by the service to fulfill a customer requirement, such as invoicing, ordering, etc. This is a component of a service.
What is a service design package?
A service design package (SDP) is a set of documents that define all aspects of a service and its requirements, from design to end of life. This is a component of a service.
What is a business case?
A business case is a document detailing the justification for investments and expenditures. This is a component of a service.
What is a service level agreement?
A service level agreement (SLA) is a set of documents that set out the level, scope, and quality (aka warranty) of a service. This is a component of a service.
What is infrastructure?
Infrastructure is the collective IT equipment required to deliver service to the customer. This is a component of a service.
Define “environment”.
Environment, in the context of IT service management, refers to factors such as data centers, power, and air conditioning needed to secure and operate the infrastructure. This is a component of a service.
Define integration.
Integration refers to solutions created by combining applications or data from different sources, and allowing a user or application to view said applications and data. This is a component of a service.
What are operational level agreements and contracts?
Operational level agreements (OLA)s and contracts are underpinning agreements that are needed to deliver the quality of services that was agreed to in an SLA. This is a component of a service.
What are supporting services?
Supporting services are services that are needed to continue the operation of another service. This is a component of a service.
What are IT processes?
IT processes are processes needed by the service provider themselves in order to ensure that the service they’re providing is successfully “provisioned”. This entails things like request fulfillment, incident management, etc. This is a component of a service.
What are functions?
Functions are a name for the various internal teams providing support for the components needed to provide the service. This is a component of a service.
What are roles?
Roles are a way of referring to the responsibilities, activities, and authorities granted to a person or team that control and deploy the resources used in a service. This is a component of a service.
What are suppliers?
Suppliers are external third parties who provide support for the components needed to provide the service. This is a component of a service.
What is a service provider?
A service provider is an organization that is supplying one or more services to either internal or external customers.
What is a customer? What are the two types of customer?
A customer is someone who buys goods or services. The two types of customers are Internal and External.
How do resources relate to capabilities?
Resources are things, assets that can be used, capabilities are the ability and know-how to use those resources.
What’s the difference between a customer and a user?
A customer is generally the person or organization that negotiates for a service. A user is the person who uses that service on a day-to-day basis. For example, State Farm might be a Microsoft customer, but its employees are users.
What is a supplier?
A supplier is a third party that supplies goods or services (enabling services) that are required to deliver other services.
What is a process?
A process is a structured set of activities that are designed to accomplish a specific objective. Like a computer process, it takes inputs, and makes defined outputs.
What is the thing called that initiates a process?
The thing that initiates a process is called a trigger.
What are the four characteristics of a process?
The four characteristics of a process are: Measurability Specific Results Customers Responsiveness to a Specific Trigger
What is a function? How does it function in larger organizations? In smaller ones?
A function in ITIL is a team/group of people and the tools/resources that they use to carry out a process/activity. In larger organizations, functions may be split among numerous divisions, groups, or teams. In smaller organizations, one person or group may have several functions.
What is a role within the scope of ITIL? Where are roles defined?
A role within ITIL is a set of responsibilities, authorizations, and activities that is assigned to a person or group of people. Roles are defined either in a process, or a function.
What are the six attributes a role-carrying person needs to be effective?
The six attributes a role-holder needs are:
- Awareness of business priorities, objectives, and drivers.
- Awareness of how their role enables the above.
- Customer service skills
- Understanding of how IT can aid the business.
- The skills and know-how to perform the role (capabilities).
- Understanding of best practices, and the ability to use them.
What is a RACI matrix, and what does it stand for?
A RACI matrix is a tool for defining who is taking what roles and responsibilities for a process. RACI stands for:
- Responsible - The person(s) responsible for getting the job done.
- Accountable - The person who has ownership of quality of the end result. Only one per task.
- Consulted - The person(s) consulted or whose opinions are sought.
- Informed - The person(s) who are kept up-to-date on progress.
What does a service owner do?
A service owner is the person accountable for a service, representing it within the business, understanding it, ensure the service meets customer requirements, communicating with the customers and process owners, improving the service, and being “accountable” for it.
What does a process owner do?
A process owner is accountable that a process is “fit for purpose”, that is, its utility. This person is often the process manager as well. The process owner is responsible for ensuring that the process is being performed up to spec, as well as general tasks:
Monitoring metrics, keeping documentation, assisting with process design, managing process technicians, and identifying and making improvements.
What does a process manager do? How are they different from the process owner?
A process manager is the person who is accountable for the day-to-day operation of a process. There may be several of these for one process. The process manager is responsible for making sure the process is “fully staffed”, monitoring process performance, managing process resources, and identifying and making performances.
The process owner is less responsible for day-to-day management than the manager.
What does the process practitioner do?
The process practitioner is the person responsible for actually carrying out process activities. This role might be combined with process manager, but it is not a certainty.
The process practitioner performs one or more activities within a process. They also have an understanding of the overall scope of the process, what it delivers, and why that’s important.
What is a service?
A service is a means of delivering value to customers by facilitating the outcomes customers want to achieve without ownership of the assets needed to achieve those outcomes.
What is an outcome?
An outcome is the result of carrying out an activity. There’s nothing else to it than that.
What is an IT service?
An IT service is a service that is provided by an IT service provider. This is a terrible definition.
What is an internal customer-facing service?
An internal customer-facing service is an IT service that directly supports a business process managed by another business unit. For example: A sales-reporting service, or enterprise resource management.
What is an external customer-facing service?
An external customer-facing service is an IT service that is directly provided to an external customer. For example: Internet access at an airport.
What is a supporting service?
A supporting service is an IT service that is not directly used by the business, but is required by the IT services to deliver customer-facing services. For example, a directory service or backup service.
What is a core service?
A core service is a service that delivers the basic outcomes that are desired by the customer. No-frills.
What is an enabling service?
An enabling service is a service that is needed in order to deliver a core service. The underpinning, the foundation. These may or may not be visible to the customer, but either way are not offered as an individual service.
What is an enhancing service?
An enhancing service is one that is added to a core service in order to make it more attractive to the customer. These services aren’t necessary to the delivery of a core service, but they do make them a lot nicer to use. Remember, they are services, so they accomplish objectives.
What is a service package?
A service package is a collection of two or more services that have been combined to offer a solution to a certain type of customer need, or to “underpin” specific business outcomes. It can contain any number of types of services.
What is utility?
Utility is what the service actually gives to the customer, also known as fitness, or purpose. Utility is the functionality offered by a product/service to meet a need.
What is warranty?
Warranty is the assurance that a product or service will meet its agreed requirements, just like the warranty on a car.
What is a resource?
A resource is the generic term for IT Infrastructure, people, money, or anything else that might help to deliver IT services.
What is capability?
Capability is the ability of a service organization/person/process/application/IT service, or any other thing (basically) to carry out an activity. These are the intangible assets of an organization.
What is a business process?
A business process is the process that defines the functional needs of the service being provided. That is, the process that the IT service is supporting (which has needs).
What is a service design package?
A service design package, or SDP, is a set of documents that define all aspects of a service, and its requirements during each stage of its life cycle.
What is a business case?
A business case is the justification for any service investment and expenditure.
What is a service level agreement/requirement?
A service level agreement/requirement is a document that specifies the level, scope, and quality of a service that is to be provided. It is agreed on with the customer.
What is infrastructure?
Infrastructure is the whole of all the parts needed to deliver service to customers and users. This includes hardware (servers n’ shit), circuits, switches, phones, all that stuff.
What is an environment?
An environment is the conditions that are required to secure and operate the infrastructure. This is things like data centers, air conditioning, etc.
What is data?
Data, in this context, is information that is necessary for the support of the service and the customer.
What is an application?
An application is a piece of software that manipulates data, and provides functional requirements for the business process.
What is integration?
Integration is the act of combining data and/or applications from different sources, and providing the user/application a unified view of them.
What is an operational level agreement/contract?
An operational level agreement/contract is any underpinning agreement that is needed to deliver the quality of service that is set by the service level agreements.
What is a supporting service?
A supporting service is a service that is necessary to support the operation of the delivered service. This is different from an enabling service in that supporting services are not visible to the customer; they’re more of an infrastructure thing.
What is an IT process?
An IT process is a process needed by the service provider to ensure successful provisioning of a service (i.e. request fulfillment, incident management, change management, and availability management).
What is a function?
A function is an internal team that provides support for any of the components needed to provide the service.
What is a role?
A role is a set of responsibilities, activities, and authorities granted to a person or team that control and deploy the resources engaged in the service. Basically, what you’d think a role would entail.
What is service management?
Service management is a set of specialized organizational capabilities for providing value to customers, in the form of services.
What is IT service management?
IT service management is the implementation and management of “quality” IT services, what that meet the needs of businesses. IT service management is performed by IT service providers, through an appropriate mix of people, processes, and tech.
What is a service provider?
A service provider is an organization supplying services to one or more customers, be they internal or external.
How many types of service provider are there?
There are three types of service provider, Internal Service Providers, Shared Services Units, and External Service Providers.
What is an internal service provider?
An internal service provider is a service provider that is embedded within a business unit. There’s usually several of these within a unit.
What is a shared services unit?
A shared services unit is a service provider that provides IT services to multiple business units within a business.
What is an external service provider?
An external service provider is a service provider that provides IT services to external customers. Duh.
What is a customer? How is this different for IT service provision?
A customer is anyone who buys goods or services. Within IT service provision, this means the person or group of people that defines and agrees to the service level agreements.
What are internal customers?
Internal customers are customers who work for the same business as the IT service provider. Generally, other departments and groups.
What are external customers?
External customers are customers who work for a different business from the IT service provider.
What is a user? How is it different from a customer?
A user is a person who “uses” the service on a day-to-day basis. A customer does not have to be a user.
What is a supplier?
A supplier is a third party responsible for supplying goods or services that are required to deliver services.
What is a process?
A process is a structured set of activities that are designed to accomplish a specific objective.
What is measurability?
Measurability is the ability to measure a process in a relevant manner. Generally performance-driven. It’s a characteristic of processes.
What are “specific results” in regards to a process?
Specific results are the reason that a process exists. The result here is generally “individually identifiable and countable”.
Who are the customers in a process?
The customers of a process are the people a process delivers its primary results to.
What are the characteristics of a process?
The characteristics of a process are: Measurability Specific Results Customers Responsiveness to Specific Triggers
What is a function?
A function is a team or group of people and the tools and resources they use to carry out one or more processes (or activities). The service desk is an example of a function.
What is the difference between a service level agreement (SLA) and an operational level agreement (OLA)?
A service level agreement is made between the provider and the customer. Operational level agreements are created between functional IT groups in order to support the goals set by the service level agreement. They are the sub-goals that, combined, will allow the SLA to be met.
