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There are six sections which comprise all the roles
associated with ITIL, they are:
1.
Service Strategy
2.
Service Design
3.
Service Transition
4.
Service Operation
5.
Continual Service Improvement
6.
ITIL roles outside the IT organization
Service Strategy
Service strategy essentially deals with formulating
a “game plan” if you will, which seeks to outline the
goals, desires, capabilities, and components of specific
services, along with a dedicated business plan for
creating additional value for customers.
Service Design
When we talk of service design, we are really talking
about one of the most important aspects of IT
infrastructure management (and defining ITIL roles).
Your organization may either flourish or flounder
depending upon how well-designed your services
are. As you might expect, there are a number of areas
which fall under this heading including; security,
applications, capacity, compliance, continuity,
architecture, risk assessment, and many others. Those
involved in roles related to service design are arguably
involved in the most time-consuming of the six stages
/ steps of ITIL adoption.
Service Transition
Once the concerns of design are laid to rest, an
organization can then begin actually putting their
ITIL strategy into place; this is also called service
transition. If everything has been carefully considered
before arriving at this step, then the difficulty of the
roles associated with service transition should be
relatively simple or care-free. This does not imply
that this is always the case however. In fact, one of
the most important duties of those operating under
the banner of service transition is the emergency
change advisory board (ECAB), which is tasked with
creating contingencies in the event of a disruption, for
instance.
Service Operation
Now everything is in place, your ITIL operation is up-
and-running; those individuals dealing with this stage
of activity are under the heading of service operation.
As the name clearly implies, service operation is
basically how an IT department realistically deals with
the operation of their services on a daily basis. Inside
of ITIL service operation there are various levels which
are tasked with responding to specific types of issues.
For example, the first level of support deals with all
issues as they are encountered, the second level,
those issues which cannot be handled by the first, and
of course the third dealing with manufacturer-related
issues, etc… Regardless of the specific role that a
person is dealing with under the service operation
heading, it is the goal of everyone involved in it to
ensure that everything is constantly and consistently
operational.
Continual Service Improvement
Even if you think that your IT infrastructure is perfect
(maybe because you’ve encountered very few issues
and you are able to deliver quality services to satisfied
customers), you’re still going to have to perform
upgrades and maintenance from time to time.
Everyone engaging in roles under continual service
improvement (CSI) is preoccupied with how they
might be able to improve any aspect or component of
their services and operation.
ITIL roles outside the IT organization
• Service users / subscribers
• Consumers / customers
Within each one of the aforementioned six sections
there are a bevy of additional roles which deal with
the various aspects needed to deliver a quality service
(in each area). They are typically assigned or allotted
to individuals who might specialize in these key
areas. As you might expect, it is imperative that all
individuals who operate under one area should be
able to work as a cohesive team as well as individually
(if an IT operation is to be successful in the long-term).
Handling ITIL Role Conflicts
Although it’s clear (at least in theory) that the addition
of various ITIL roles can improve the quality of an
organization’s services, it should be noted that
internal conflict among these “roles” is still very likely
to occur.
When an ITIL-rich approach is adopted by an IT
group, a variety of roles are created for which
individuals are tasked with presiding over. These
roles comprise the maintenance, assurance, planning,
design, and improvement of all the individual
components of all IT-related assets. To simply assume
that there won’t be the occasional miscommunication
or misunderstanding (concerning shortfalls, mishaps,
or misplaced responsibilities) would be a mistake.
Even though the various ITIL roles were created to
help manage the 6 primary steps* associated with
ITIL adoption, their primary focus is on improving and
providing quality uninterrupted service(s).
One of the big secrets about ITIL implementation is
that it is not being fully or completely embraced. For
instance, even most large organizations, which might
have become increasingly reliant on ITIL, are holding
back on fully implementing the complete roster of
official “roles”. There are a variety of reasons as to why
this might be the case, one of the biggest being that
some IT departments may be slow to encourage all
their team members to attain ITIL certification, for
example.
One individual, multiple roles…
If we were to trace most ITIL implementation role
conflicts back to a single point where they originally
began to “sour”, you might discover that everything
started to go wrong when too much stress was put
upon an individual (or individuals). It might start
off innocently enough; with some individual(s)
“cross tasking” to lend assistance in another
developmental stage, only to eventually end
up managing both elements. This sort of
“multiple roles” syndrome can create serious
problems, especially when individuals are
performing duties in one area which might
unpredictably alter those of another (of
which they are also tasked with).
By and large, the best way of avoiding
internal conflict(s), which are stemming
from placing undue strain on individuals,
is to keep them designated to one specific
stage. Simply put, if one person absolutely
must be tasked with managing multiple
components, they should all fall under
the same heading / step / stage (like service
design, for example).
Still, major issues can creep up even if this
recommendation is followed to the letter. You are
most likely already familiar with the concept of checks
and balances, perhaps not as they pertain to ITIL
implementation however. One of the primary reasons
why even expertly assigned multiple roles (even those
falling under one stage) might cause strife, has to do
with “checks and balances”. It is through regulation(s)
that most ITIL (along with IT) implementations are
allowed to flourish. Multiple points-of-view are often
required to not only functional, but also to keep
everything “legitimate”. All it takes for a major mishap
to occur is for one individual who is juggling multiple
roles to knowingly or unknowingly sidestep the
established system.
Following formal ITIL
recommendations...
If your IT group has encountered problems because
they have not implemented a majority of the required
roles, then difficulties should come as no surprise.
In all honesty, the established system for ITIL works
very well, but in order to reap the benefits of such
a thing, you have to be in alignment with the initial
requirements and expectations. For example, the
various ITIL implementation roles exist as part of a
larger system which has been meticulously designed
to serve several purposes and achieve multiple
goals simultaneously.
However, if it simply isn’t possible for your IT
organization to adopt every single role as
outlined, you still have another option at
your disposal; simplification. If individuals
absolutely must take charge of multiple
roles, it must be under the direct
supervision of the IT manager. Often
times, conflicts arise because there is
no one surveying the actions that are
occurring; in other words, no one is
privy to the “big picture”. It is definitely
possible for an IT department to fully
implement virtually every single ITIL
“role”, but that would require someone
to take a complete inventory of duties
and then determine the best system
for organizing them, with the ultimate
goal being an elimination of internal
conflict(s).
"ITIL® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Cabinet
Office".