Product Portfolio and Service Management

Take IT easy – FNT’s Product Portfolio and Service Management solution makes

light work of meeting the requirements and requests of your internal customers.

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FNT SOLUTION PAPER // Product Portfolio and Service Management

„The medium of exchange for demonstrating IT effectiveness is a properly defined

service catalog. Unless IT‘s services are defined, IT‘s contribution is implicit and

difficult to measure”

Michael Smith, Benchmarks Can Guide Cost-Optimization Initiatives, Gartner

IT Services Must Be Standardized.

While companies have made tremendous strides over the crafting. Thousands of application silos exist, each with
last few years with regard to standardization of processes individually specified hardware and server configurations. As a
and technologies, there is now increasing focus on the result, sales and delivery processes require considerable human
standardization of business services, i.e., IT services that input and present a range of problems in terms of optimal
support business processes and are directly visible to customers. utilization and strategic planning of resources

The design of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) also addresses In order to boost the production efficiency of IT services, enable
these challenges. ITIL V3 is aligned with the so-called service reuse, and make optimal use of resources, it is necessary to
lifecycle. As with physical products, an IT service has a classic move away from the project-based build-to-order approach still
commercial lifecycle. The cycle starts when the service is followed in most IT organizations and to forge a new path.
launched and ends when it is retired from the portfolio.
While the focus is often on business services alone, it is actually
Accordingly, the service strategy and service design phases are the supply chain that offers the greatest potential for major
part of the five core ITIL disciplines as defined in ITIL V3. While improvements in efficiency, flexibility, and cost control. The aim
the service strategy phase ensures that the service portfolio of value-driven service management is to create transparency
is configured in accordance with market requirements and and structure at every stage in the process chain. This can then
aligned with corporate strategy, the service design phase is be used to produce competitive and standardized IT services
about developing solutions that meet the service requirements while exploiting the potential for economies of scale.
of the market. In addition to designing new services, existing
services need to be modified and improved to meet new market
demands. The result is a market-oriented service catalog that
is suited to the requirements of internal customers and the
business as a whole.

However, it should be noted that ITIL® continues to focus

on process-related design of the disciplines, with IT service
production principles playing a subordinate role or being
largely disregarded. Up to now, businesses have generally also
been half-hearted about standardizing IT services and their
service portfolio. But what good is a clearly defined IT service
if it has to be continually redefined and then customized for
each individual customer? Despite all the talk about service
orientation, the reality behind the scenes is still one of hand-

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 FNT SOLUTION PAPER // Product Portfolio and Service Management

Business Processes
(IT Service Management – Assurance – Fulfilment – Planning & Engineering – Lifecycle Management)

Connectivity

Connectivity
Data Center Information Technology Telecommunicaton
Application Discovery
Auto-Discovery &

Business Services

Monitoring
Services
Applications
Integrated
Virtualization FNT Data Model
Logical
Physical
Connectivity

Facility

Unified Management System for Service, Configuration & Infrastructure

Connectivity

Network Client IT Portfolio

IP PBX ERP LDAP ...
Management Management Management

FNT offers an integrated approach to services, configuration management, and infrastructure.

The Modularization Principle

In order to address these challenges, IT needs to switch from a infrastructure operation, and service operation. Seamless
project orientation to a product orientation. Of course, support functioning can only be assured if all three disciplines speak
for individual customer requirements still has to be possible the same “language” and interpret the defined IT services in
via configuration options, even with a standardized IT service the same way.
portfolio.

The key principles of industrial production provide a solution

to these challenges and enable the transition to a product
orientation:

́́ Standardization and automation

́́ Continuous improvement
́́ Modularization
́́ Concentration on core competencies in order to reduce
production depth

The parallels between industry and IT are striking. IT services

can be broken down into their individual components, just
like in a bill of materials. And as in industry, it is vital to make
Fig.: Business operation, infrastructure operation, and service operation mesh when
the best possible use of resources and address cost reduction
providing services
targets, while simultaneously taking into account the need for
customer-specific adaptation. The associated reduction in the
number of variants and the utilization of common parts deliver
the desired IT economies of scale. As an attractive by-product,
susceptibility to faults is also reduced. However, achieving this
goal requires a strategy, a process plan, and a functioning,
consistent methodology.

ITIL® defines the process operations, but choosing a consistent

methodology for service definition is particularly critical, since
IT services must not only be marketed and sold, but also
implemented, operated, and billed. The defined, standardized
services thus form the link between business operation,

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FNT SOLUTION PAPER // Product Portfolio and Service Management

Application of the key principles of industrial production to implement the IT factory model

Becoming Product-Oriented.

It is precisely here that businesses now find themselves facing the bE_Method® is the separation of the product offered and
major challenges: the service provided. In this context, “product” refers to an IT
service at the design level. The product is broken down into its
́́ Creating a standardized, market-oriented, business-fo- component parts, which can then be used to define product
cused service catalog is not easy. variants as well as other products. Having been defined as
́́ The build-to-order approach is still the norm; there is often a product, an IT service can thus be provided or sold multiple
no attempt to break IT services down into their component times in different configurations.
parts.
́́ Achieving economies of scale, resource optimization, and The FNT Product Portfolio and Service Management solution
market-oriented budget planning in IT service management offers the required functionality. It improves the efficiency
often fails to progress beyond PowerPoint presentations. of your IT and service management processes by enabling
́́ It is often difficult to map infrastructure resources to the you to model and deliver standardized products and services.
business services that depend on them. This unique solution provides a solid foundation for defining,
́́ Transparency of costs and price structures is often unsatis- managing, monitoring, and delivering business services and
factory. service assets over the entire service lifecycle. In turn, this makes
́́ Business operation, service operation, and infrastructure it possible to reuse service assets and products efficiently and
operation are poorly integrated and interlinking is thus provide services in a flexible manner and with consistently high
inefficient. quality, while also keeping costs under control.

The resulting challenges can be addressed simply and effectively

using a methodological process model based on an integrated
service management database (SMDB). In this scenario, the
SMDB acts as the control center for the IT service organization
and as a central intermediary between IT, business, and service
operation.

The bE_Method® provides the appropriate process model for

deploying the SMDB. This method, which is an enhancement
of ITIL®, enables customers to standardize and manage their
service, application, and business process environments in a
transparent, targeted manner. Key benefits include a high level
of flexibility when defining and providing IT services, making it
possible to respond effectively to market needs. At the heart of

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 FNT SOLUTION PAPER // Product Portfolio and Service Management

Overview of functional areas within the FNT Product Portfolio- and Service Management solution

The FNT ServicePlanet Software Suite

The FNT Product Portfolio and Service Management solution ́́ Documentation and simulation of propagation rules for
is an innovative solution for defining, administering, and integrating a service monitor.
managing an organization’s IT product and service portfolio.
The solution is built around the FNT ServicePlanet software Service Management
suite, which is an SMDB based entirely on the bE_Method®.
́́ Rule-based instantiation and configuration of products as
FNT ServicePlanet was developed in close collaboration with IT services.
customers and partners, based on their requirements and the ́́ Definition and management of service catalogs.
latest market trends. The result is a user-friendly, Web-based ́́ Generation of infrastructure work orders.
solution with multilingual, multi-user, and multi-mandator ́́ Provision of metrics for service level reporting.
capability. As an integrative system, FNT ServicePlanet has a
modern, multi-tier software architecture that connects with Offer and Contract Management
CMDBs, ITSM tools, ERP systems, and monitoring systems.
́́ Offer creation via IT services, including automatic price
The FNT Product Portfolio and Service Management solution calculation.
supports you in the following tasks: ́́ Converting offers into contracts.
́́ Managing offers and contracts over the entire lifecycle.
Product Portfolio Management
Reporting and Dashboarding
́́ Creation, definition, and management of product portfolios
and product catalogs. ́́ Evaluating the repository with regard to various different
́́ Definition and management of products/IT services based aspects, such as products sold, services per customer, or
on the modularization principle over the entire lifecycle and pending offers.
for multiple versions, with the aid of modeling components. ́́ ntegration of best-practice dashboards for detailed service
́́ Definition and management of prices and costs. and portfolio analysis.
́́ End-to-end mapping from business service through to CI. ́́ Generating PDF documents, such as catalogs, work orders,
́́ Definition of default configurations and product variations. and product profiles.
́́ Definition and management of service level agreements
(SLAs), operational level agreements (OLAs), and
underpinning contracts (UCs)
́́ Provision of product catalogs in integrated order portal;
optional integration of self-service portal based on product
catalog.

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 FNT SOLUTION PAPER // Product Portfolio and Service Management

The FNT Product Portfolio and Service Management solution Service and Contract Area: Rule-Based Instantiation and
enables better communication with your customers via a Service Catalog Management
clearly defined and structured service offering. There is no It is important to be able to configure and vary the services
need to define services from scratch for each customer and to you want to provide quickly and efficiently. All service-related
discuss details of the infrastructure level. Rather, the relevant information must be documented and updated over the
SLAs are used. Customers select the desired service from a entire lifecycle. When creating a service, the configuration of
standard product portfolio in a modular manner. After ordering, marketing and end customer-related attributes at the service
they receive a customized service assembled from the various level should also automatically ripple through to the underlying
options and featuring their chosen level of quality of service. infrastructure components. Specifically, it is necessary to select
and provide different IT infrastructure resources based on
The FNT Product Portfolio and Service Management solution service configuration in order to be able to provide the proper
includes a range of functional areas. The main core functions of product or service to the customer.
FNT ServicePlanet are presented and discussed in greater detail
below. With FNT ServicePlanet, it is easy to configure services based
on a product specification and to define the product’s explicit
Product Area: Product Modeling and Product Catalog attributes. Dependencies defined on the product side are
Management reflected in the selection of attributes, enabling automated
FNT ServicePlanet can help improve the efficiency of your instantiation of the service. Customized service variations can
service management with the help of product-modeling be mapped flexibly and directly, without prior product definition.
methodologies, such as standardization and reuse of product This allows maximum freedom when providing services while
elements. The ability to break down products into standardized ensuring transparency into the underlying IT resources.
components enables cost-efficient production as well as rapid
rollout and marketing of new products. A status-driven workflow supports the service manager when
maintaining services, thus ensuring that all important process
steps are followed when creating a service. It is also possible
to detect service delivery problems with the aid of predefined
analysis templates and metrics that connect with service level
reporting systems.

Fig.: Graphic-based structuring of a product in FNT ServicePlanet

FNT ServicePlanet provides corresponding support via a

graphical user interface for defining and modeling product
trees and mapping dependencies between products and Fig.: Matrix view of configuration variants, dependencies, and price aggregation in
product elements. The ability to define all product attributes FNT ServicePlanet
and their effects on costs and prices enables rapid, efficient,
and automated service creation. Freely definable portfolios and
customer-specific product catalogs give you maximum freedom Services delivered to customers need to be covered by legally
to categorize and catalog your product offerings. This facilitates binding contracts. It is especially important to capture and
fast product creation and modification while retaining control evaluate all relevant information, including customer data,
and an overview of all associated costs and dependencies. offers, contracts, and agreements (BLAs, SLAs, OLAs). FNT
ServicePlanet includes a comprehensive accounting area
In addition, work orders can be used to document and organize with functions for managing offers and contracts plus clearly
the operational and administrative tasks required for service structured customer and partner management functionality for
provision. When defining products, it is also possible to offering and contracting services.
predefine work orders that can then be customized during
service creation for a specific customer. These predefined Self-Service Portal
workflows make service provision faster, more efficient, and FNT ServicePlanet has a self-service portal that enables
more transparent, thereby boosting customer satisfaction. marketing of services to external customers. As in a regular
online store, shoppers are free to select and order the services

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 FNT SOLUTION PAPER // Product Portfolio and Service Management

they want. All service variants and configuration options are of functions, it also allows simple customization of the user
generated on the basis of a predefined product catalog. A interface, icons, texts, and object names.
sophisticated rights system makes it possible to control the
availability of services by customer group.

Fig.: Integration of FNT ServicePlanet and FNT Command into the service
management environment

A comprehensive standard role/authorization strategy and

carefully selected object classes provide an appropriate basis
for working with FNT ServicePlanet. The clearly constructed
Fig.: Provision of products and configuration options in FNT ServicePlanet’s self- administration area offers a wide range of options for
service portal
configuring the GUI to suit individual users and roles. The ability
to adapt the interface to preferred methods and procedures is
System Integration: Connectivity and Alignment an effective way of achieving user acceptance.
Service management solutions often include integration into
other systems that frequently already exist. Services must be
linked to the resources required for provision at the physical „FNT ServicePlanet allows us to achieve
level in order to enable end-to-end monitoring of the services
across other company areas and of the technical assets or a new level of quality in our service
configuration items that make up the IT infrastructure.
management activities. In addition to a clear
Thanks to standard integration with FNT Command as a
CMDB system, it is possible to directly access and define the methodological process and the utilization
underlying IT infrastructure in the form of configuration items
from within the service itself. In addition, FNT ServicePlanet of a user-friendly tool, we are able to
has an open repository, which allows easy integration with ERP,
ticketing, monitoring, and other CMDB systems. manage our customers‘ service contracts
Automated data exchange ensures that the data is current. efficiently.“
This ease of integration makes it possible to monitor the
provided services successfully and to perform fast, efficient Götz Sander, Manager CC IT-Management, Controlware GmbH
troubleshooting in the event of faults via the integrated root
cause analysis function.

Fig.: Integration of FNT ServicePlanet and FNT Command

Administration: Setup and Management

Although as a packaged software product FNT ServicePlanet
can be used “out of the box” to provide a comprehensive range

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 FNT SOLUTION PAPER // Product Portfolio and Service Management

Conclusion
The unique FNT Product Portfolio and Service Management interface. Services can then be instantiated, offered, and
solution acts as the control center for the IT service managed on a product basis, along with the related customer
organization and as a central hub between IT, business, and details and contract information. The resulting service trees
service operations. The FNT ServicePlanet software suite forms provide the foundation for service billing, monitoring, work
the heart of the solution, is based entirely on the bE_Method®, orders, and controlling.
and allows definition, administration, and management of the
IT product and service portfolio. IT services are broken down For example, a work order generated by an order in FNT
into their individual components and the individual modules ServicePlanet can thus form the basis for planning and
are reassembled into new products using a special modeling provisioning the required IT infrastructure in FNT Command.

Benefits of deploying the FNT Product Portfolio and Service Management

solution:

́́ Clarity and transparency in the customer-supplier relationship in hybrid IT environments

́́ Acceleration of day-to-day business processes, particularly in relation to the service portfolio, service design,
and sales
́́ Method-based definition of standardized products
́́ Market-oriented product catalog that is aligned with corporate strategy
́́ Contract and order management for products and services
́́ Successful mapping and management of products, services, and their service assets over the entire lifecycle
́́ Marketing and delivery of services with automated documentation
́́ Continuous improvement of services based on targeted evaluation and predefined analyses
́́ Transparency with regard to quality, compliance with service level agreements, and the cost of the services
provided
́́ Fast integration into an existing service management tool environment (CMDB, monitoring, ERP, and helpdesk
systems, etc.) using standardized interfaces
́́ Mandator capability; audit-proof; ITIL-compliant
́́ 100% Web-based solution
́́ Best-practice content for achieving rapid time-to-value
́́ Standard out-of-the-box solution
́́ Support for process automation
́́

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