IRM4720

Assignment 2 Template 2022

Assignment number: 2

Assignment unique code: 160773

Student number: 50836331

Last name & Initials Mafumo TP

Statement of Originality

I certify that the intellectual content of this assignment is the product of my own work and
that all the assistance received in preparing this assignment and sources have been
acknowledged.

IRM4720 Assignment 2 Template

SECTION A: WORKPLACE CASE STUDY [25 MARKS]

Description of the identified workplace case study:

1. Identified framework and framework components:

Organisation identified for investigation on how they implement problem management

is department of Agriculture. The department is government institution responsible to
oversee the agriculture sector in South Africa. The Information Communication
Technology (ICT) unit is responsible for rendering Information technology related
services. Within the department, there are different units that require technology
services from the Information Communication Technology (ICT) unit. The ICT unit
consists of problem manager, service desk agents, helpdesk technicians, network
engineers, server engineers, application engineers and security engineers. The
department makes use of call logging system called ITSM, which is ITIL compliant. ITIL
provides direction to department of Agriculture on how to best use IT for business
transformation, development, and change.

2. Framework components implementation:

Probably the most commonly used and extensively implemented approach for IT
service management is ITIL. The ITIL Framework was chosen by the Department of
Agriculture because it is service-based, simple to comprehend and apply, and there is
a wealth of market-available material, training, and consulting to assist you in getting
started. Players and functions within ITIL were recognized. Key management figures
were first introduced to ITIL principles by the department, and as a result, they are
devoted to ITIL implementation. This was carried out in order to guarantee effective
management oversight and to obtain the finance, manpower, and other resources
necessary for a successful execution. To make sure that all processes will function
together, that the necessary tools are available, and that processes are thoroughly
documented, an ITIL process manager was hired.

The department then defines services; they did this by creating an overview of services
made up of business services and IT services that support them (supporting services).
After identifying the IT services, the department performed a gap analysis. This step
helped the department assess the state of the processes as they are right now and
determine their maturity. Gap analysis provided a clearer picture of the amount of time,
money, and human resources needed to realize the goal. The department became
aware that, despite having incident management in place, there was no problem
management.
The department put process control into practice by creating quantitative metrics (KPI)
that make it obvious whether a process is going as planned or not.

The KPI is automatically determined by the ITSM call logging system, which also sends
daily reports to the service desk manager. The following measures should be taken to
ensure that the problem management procedure is appropriately implemented inside
the ICT unit.

They start by identifying a potential issue. The Department of Agriculture's ICT team
must first identify an issue before they can start to fix it. Incident reporting is a source of
potential cases used by the department.

Once a potential problem has been identified then problem manager proceed to raise a
Problem Management case. In this step, the problem is logged. The log must have all
pertinent details, such as the date and time of the problem, user contact information,
equipment details and a description. Specifics about exactly what is failing
(applications, servers, networks, Pcs). Number of users affected and business impact.
Description of the Incident(s) – failure details, dates, times. Include links to all known
related Incident records. Details of troubleshooting steps taken and the results. Include
any changes implemented.

After problem is logged, it is then categorized to better assign a resource and monitor,
and given a priority. This helps the department to determine how important the problem
is and when it should be addressed by the team.

Once they have identified, logged and categorized the problem then they activate
systematic investigation. In this stage they search for the problem root cause (root
cause analysis). This is done by means of investigating the known error database to
find other problems that match the one they are trying to diagnose and seeing if there
are any recorded resolutions.

Following the root cause analysis the department, identify change(s) needed to resolve
and work through Change Management. In some situations, it is possible to provide a
temporary fix or workaround to the user experiencing the Incident related to the
Problem. However the department emphasis the importance of seeking a permanent
change resolution to the underlying error detected by Problem Management. In
Problem Management we aim to identify exactly what we are changing and why, what
data to collect, and how that will help us verify our hypothesis. Hence, the department
activate change management process at this stage.

The department then creates a known error record. After they have identified, logged
and diagnosed the problem, they collect that information in a known error record. This
is where they can go back and look up problems when others arise in their IT and see
if it is one they have already handled.
 The next step is verify problem has been resolved and closeout. Once resolved the
solution is implemented using the standard change procedure and tested to confirm
service recovery. This process is carried out through a request for change document,
which then must be approved by the CAB before being implemented. Once resolved
and tested, the problem is closed. Service desk technician closes the log, ensuring that
the details are accurate for future reference.

3. Critical analysis of the implementation and suggested improvement:

The ITSM call logging system is used by the department of agriculture. The system
includes a method for problem management. The system links corporate ideas like risk
and governance, business continuity models, etc. to ITIL concepts. The technology is
also capable of recognizing duplicate logs and grouping them into a single issue. The
organizational structure of the ICT unit also includes a problem manager who is in
charge of problem management and resources with root cause analysis training. This
enables the organization to successfully apply the problem-solving process. The
department has metrics in place to gauge how well problem management is working.

The organisation also have committees and boards in place such CAB’s responsible
for change management. Change management meetings are scheduled for two times
in a month. This allows problem manager to log changes and present them to the
board for approval as they arise. The executives of the department are technologically
advanced and have interest on technologies. This buy-in from executives gives the ICT
unit better standing and support in terms of implementing problem management. With
the support from leaders, proposals for technological advancements are highly
recommended. Resistance for change is very slim and most employees accept and
support the problem management process.
SECTION B: CASE STUDY [25 MARKS]

1. By identifying and implementing incremental or transformative service changes for the

enterprise, the ITIL Continual Service Improvement stage focuses on re-aligning IT
services to changing business needs. To align the services with the demands of the
business, this stage cooperates with the other four stages of the ITIL service lifecycle.
By ensuring operational processes are effective and satisfy client objectives, the ITIL
CSI stage also seeks to increase cost effectiveness. The development of policies and
guiding principles for the entire service lifecycle is accomplished by the service
strategy. A service design bundle contains the documentation for the new or modified
service. The service portfolio is defined in this lifecycle stage and new or changed
services are chartered. During the service design stage of the lifecycle, everything
needed to transition and operate the new or changed service is documented in a
service design package.

Additionally, throughout this phase of the life cycle, management information systems
and tools, architectural frameworks, operational procedures, measurement techniques,
and metrics are all designed. During the service design phase, the activities of the
service transition and service operation stages of the lifecycle are defined.

By reducing the risks of failure and interruption, service transition makes sure that the
needs of the service strategy, which were determined in service design, are effectively
met in service operation.

The actions and processes necessary to provide the agreed-upon services are carried
out during the service operation stage of the service lifecycle.

The value specified in the service strategy is realized at this phase of the lifecycle.
Lifecycle stages and continuous service improvement (CSI) work together.

Processes, roles, activities, services, and technology should all be measured and
improved continuously. Continuous feedback at every level of the service lifecycle is
the foundation of its strength.

This input makes sure that service optimization is handled from a business standpoint
and evaluated in terms of the value the business drivers derive from services at any
stage during the service lifecycle. Decisions about the need for minor course
corrections or large service enhancement initiatives are driven by the process of
monitoring, assessment, and feedback between each stage at every point in the
service lifecycle. For effective and efficient service management, it is also crucial to
adopt the right technology to automate the processes and give management the
information it needs to support them.
 IT companies must constantly upgrade their offerings to stay competitive and
appealing to their customers, who are typically the businesses they serve. This belongs
to the Continual Service Improvement lifecycle step (CSI).

Measuring and analyzing are essential at this stage to identify which services are
profitable and which ones need development. CSI needs to be used at every stage of
the service lifecycle, from service strategy to service operation. By doing so, CSI is
integrated into the process of creating and delivering IT services.

2. CSI Inputs from other Service life cycle stages includes

Inputs from service strategy are

 Vision and mission

 Service portfolio

 Policies

 Change proposals

 Budgets

Inputs from service Design are

 Service catalogue

 SLA’s, OLA’s and underpinning contracts

 Request for Change (RFC’s)

 SDP’s

Inputs from service Operation are

 Request for Change (RFC’s) to operational issues

 SKMS

 Actual performance information

 Feedback on quality and transition activities

3. An IT service desk is a hub for communications that serves as a single point of contact
for a business's clients, staff, and partners. ZOY intended to guarantee very effective
management and upkeep of its medicines. Since the service desk is a crucial ITSM
tool and a component of the ecosystem for IT support, its implementation was
necessary. The IT personnel at ZOY is required to maintain hardware and software
systems on a round-the-clock basis. ZOY IT service desk offers self-service for clients
who wish to handle events swiftly and independently as well as measurements on the
efficiency of the team and the tool. It also helps clients with incident resolution or
service request management. Service desk engages with various functional divisions
and has a strategic approach to assistance. The service desk adopts a comprehensive
strategy to harmonize business and IT vision. To prevent any big incidents, proactive
problem management is used.

4. Incident Management – This is ideal for ZOY to quickly restore services in case of
unplanned disruptions to their IT services, like system outages. ZOY Expects their IT
Staff to keep hardware and software systems up and running on a 24X7 basis. This
process returns the IT service to users as quickly as possible.

Change Management – One of the ZOY goals is to ensure that change is ingrained in
the organization in order to continue the momentum for quality improvement.
Evaluation and planning of a change with the least amount of risk and negative
influence on the existing ecosystem are the responsibilities of change management.
ZOY must first evaluate changes, plan for them, and receive the required approvals
from the Change Advisory Board, or CAB. Unconsidered changes can interfere with
regular IT functions. This method might be the most instantly beneficial.

Release Management – ZOY has implemented and upgraded applications in a way

that effectively lowers long-term costs and encourages flexibility within its computing
environment, both of which assist the expansion of the company in the future. The
process of scheduling, designing, testing, deploying, and managing software releases
is referred to as release management. By doing this, it will be possible to deploy apps
and upgrades that ZOY Pharmaceutical needs in an effective manner while preserving
the integrity of the current production environment.

5. Verify that measurement and metrics are in place, tool balanced scorecard

Milestones achieved, tool Return on Investment (ROI)

Process compliance is high, tool Assessments

Momentum for quality improvement is maintained by assuring that change become

embedded in the organization, tool is 8-step process Kotter
SECTION C: RESEARCH ARTICLE [20 MARKS]

1. ITSM is the actual practice, or professional discipline, of managing IT operations as a

service, while ITIL is a set of best practices that provide guidance for ITSM. ITIL, the
Information Technology Infrastructure Library, is the definitive source of how to go
about all of the functions defined by ITSM

2. Organizational change is the process through which a firm or business changes a key
aspect of its structure, such as its culture, the operational infrastructure or supporting
technologies, or its internal procedures.

Adaptive changes are subtle, gradual adjustments that organizations make to

respond to needs that change over time.

Transformational change, Compared to adaptive changes, transformational changes

are more extensive and wide-ranging. They frequently involve simultaneous changes
to the organization's mission and strategy, team or company structure, employee and
organizational effectiveness, or business procedures.

3. Socio-technical system (STS) is one that takes into account needs related to
hardware, software, personal, and social issues. It makes use of social sciences to use
an understanding of social structures, roles, and rights to inform the design of systems
involving human communities and technology.
4. The main point of contact for coordinating actions between the end user and the IT
service provider is the service desk. As a result, it is necessary as a foundation for
implementing ITIL in organizations.

To lessen the effect of the disruption on the business, incident management is

focused with promptly restoring the disrupted services and returning them to normal
functioning levels.

Problem Management involves identifying the underlying causes of incidents and

taking proactive steps to prevent them from happening again.

Change management is a phase of service transition that suggests a workflow to

assess, organize, and implement a particular change request. The primary objective of
ITIL Change management is to ensure that change execution does not interrupt
ongoing operations.

5. Creating a sense of urgency

It is crucial to describe the project in a way that makes others feel compelled to adopt the
modifications. This entails being open and transparent in communicating what the future
will look like if the change is made or not.

Leadership

Stakeholder management and sponsorship are two areas where change demands strong
and devoted leadership. The first step entails identifying the individuals who will be
impacted by the effort, as well as figuring out their level of influence and commitment to
the change. Knowing how to handle them through involvement and communication will be
made possible by this information.

Communication

Communication is an integral part of OCM, in particular monitoring the effectiveness of

each communication act to determine if the message has been received and understood.

Empowerment

Making sure people are prepared to embrace the change or the initiative's results is the
goal here. Has everyone received enough training? Training is a major component of
empowerment. Is additional training necessary? Based on the desired employee
behaviors and how the initiative will effect their responsibilities, a skilled ITSM practitioner
can plan training.
Resistance Management

Investigating and identifying the causes of resistance to change is a crucial component of

OCM. Despite the fact that you may think the proposal is logical, most people will respond
to it emotionally. With the help of ITIL Practitioner, you will be able to identify resistance's
causes and points of origin and use that knowledge to properly manage it.

Reinforcement

In order to prevent people from reverting to their previous behaviors and ways, you must
lastly reinforce the change. It is important to provide regular feedback, measure results
accurately, and implement reinforcement strategies to integrate change into daily
operations.

6. Top management support, Supports the policy, enforces adherence to newly

developed standard procedures, and ensures money for consulting, equipment, and
training.

Change management and organisational culture, Involving the staff in the ITIL
implementation process from the start to finish is essential for assisting the staff in
adjusting to the change.

Communication and cooperation all case studies put emphasis on communication

as it ensures that all parties are of the same sentiment and kept informed throughout.

Training and competencies of involved stakeholders in ITIL, which improved the

team's competency and efficiency, allowed for the clear definition of processes, roles,
and duties, and increased customer satisfaction as a result of successful and
economical projects
SECTION D: SHORT ANSWERS [80 MARKS]

Question1

Step 1 –The first step is to clearly understand the Business vision, strategy, goals and
objectives.

Step 2 – Where Are We Now? performing an initial assessment, or measurements, in

order to create a baseline upon which improvement effort success can be measured.

Step 3 – Where Do We Want To Be? Set realistic targets for the improvement initiative.
This may require setting short-term, mid-term and long-term targets.

Step 4 – How Do We Get There? This is the process improvement projects that are
identified, agreed on and funded

Step 5 – Did We Get There? Using the Key Performance Indictors defined in Step 3,
continue to monitor, measure and report on your achievements.

Step 6 – How Do We Keep The Momentum Going? Market your successes to Senior
Management as well as the rest of the organization. It is important to use successes to
gain more buy-in for additional improvement initiatives.
Question 2

Internal Service Provider, are those who are committed to and frequently integrated into
a specific business unit. The actual business units could be a part of a bigger company or
parent company. As an example, business operations like finance, administration,
logistics, human resources, and IT offer the services needed by numerous company
divisions.

Shared Services Unit, under the approach, SSUs can concentrate on providing direct
customer service to business units thanks to a more decentralized governing structure. A
corporate parent, common stakeholders, is example of business unit.

A service provider known as an external service provider offers IT services to clients

outside of the company. Suppliers as examples

Question 3

Perspective: the situation in which the service strategy is expressed as a mission or

vision statement.

Position: the precise expression of the service plan that enables rival comparison.

Plan: A scenario in which the service strategy is a question.

Pattern: The service strategy is described as a recurring series of tasks to be carried out
over a predetermined amount of time.

Question 4

Attract, starts by attracting customers by outlining the value they will receive

Engage, engaging with them to better understand their business and articulate future
value further.

Convert, convincing the customers to enter into an agreement and

Retain/grow continuing to communicate and optimize value regularly to retain these

customers for life.

Value Definition: Determining the metrics by which your clients measure success and
how you’ll measure the value you provide.

Value Delivery: Providing the value your sales team promised during presale by helping
the client adopt and use your offering.

Value Validation: Confirming with the client that they have received the value they wanted
from the product.

Value Optimization: Improving the value the client receives, exceeding their expectations
and building their loyalty to your business.
Question 5

Question 6
Confidentiality: Protecting privacy is a key goal of data security. Data confidentiality
requires limiting access to information to just those who require it. Password protection
and encryption are two approaches to make sure confidentiality security requirements are
met.

Integrity is the assurance that the information held by a company is true, trustworthy, and
protected from illegal additions, deletions, alteration, or loss.

Availability - Private information is accessible to anyone with the proper authorization,

such as when a client wishes to view their profile.

Authenticity - A hierarchical pattern is part of a security policy. It implies that subpar

employees are usually assured to withhold the meager amount of data they require unless
specifically authorized. In contrast, a senior management may have sufficient power to
decide what information is shared and with whom, indicating that they are not constrained
by the same conditions of a data security policy.

Non-Repudiation - This guarantee states that no one can contest the truth of something.
It may be a legal concept that is frequently used in data security and refers to a service
that offers evidence of the information's integrity and source.
Question 7

One of the core responsibilities of the ITIL framework's Service Operation module is IT
Operations Management (ITOM). The management of the organization's IT infrastructure's
capacity, performance, and availability falls under the purview of this function. In addition
to looking after all the aspects of applications, services, storage, networking, and
connectivity elements that are employed in the day-to-day operations of a business, the
ITIL IT Operations Management is also in charge of maintaining all the technological
infrastructure components. The totality of computer, cloud, software, networking, etc.
resources needed for a complex organization's internal business operations, productivity,
and customer service are the focus of IT operations management. This includes providing
support for office computers, product design, and web/print publication in large
organizations.

Management of Network Infrastructure The entire set of tools required to give the
company internal and external communications is included in the networking
infrastructure.

Help desk services including incident response, event response, and request fulfilment are
managed as part of computer operations and help desk IT operations management.

Teams in charge of server and device management are also responsible for managing
other network endpoints, like devices and servers. The daily maintenance of the servers
that house the company's critical programs, including server upkeep, patching, and
upgrades, falls under the purview of IT Operations.

Question 8

Internal IT perspective and external business perspective: Businesses are interested

in the outcome or payback service, but the method, framework, and execution are what
the IT service is most concerned with. Here, a balance needs to be struck.

Reliability vs open-mindedness: While stability is crucial, there should also be a

preparation for any potential changes.

Cost of service and quality of service: Typically, when costs are decreased, the quality
also suffers. Therefore, it is necessary to strike a balance between cost effectiveness and
maintaining the required level of quality.

Proactive vs reactive: While proactive organizations are intensely focused on responding

in advance for a future problem, reactive organizations are known for crisis management
and focus on the current market condition. Ideal would be a balance.
Question 9

Local Service Desk

Centralised Service Desk:

Virtual Service Desk

Follow The Sun Service Desk

A 24-hour, follow-the-sun service may be offered by some large or worldwide
organizations by combining two or more of their geographically scattered service desks.
For instance, a service desk in the Asia-Pacific region might answer calls during regular
business hours before turning over control of any open issues to a desk in Europe. During
its typical day, that desk will handle both of these calls in addition to its own emergencies
before passing the reins to a desk in the USA, which in turn returns control to the ASIA-
Pacific desk to complete the cycle.
Question 10

The 7 step Improvement Process

What should you measure? - This step, which identifies the development approach, will
be influenced by the "vision" (strategic and/or operational).

What can be measured? - What can IT and the business actively measure that will be of
benefit to the organization

Gather Data (measure) - So, based on the previously established vision, mission, goals,
and objectives, has the company achieved its goal?

Process Data - determining the correct style and format to each business unit

Analyze Data - Trends, discrepancies and associated explanations are prepared for
discussion with the business

Present and use information - the business/stakeholders are informed as to whether the
goals have been achieved or not

Implement Corrective Action - document improvements, add to the Service

Improvement Program (SIP), create a new baseline and start the 7 steps again.

Question 11

ISO 38500 – The international IT governance standard, It sets out principles, definitions
and a high-level framework that organisations of all types and sizes can use to better align
their use of IT with organisational decisions and meet their legal, regulatory and ethical
obligations.

ITIL- IT service management, Widely adopted around the world, ITIL is a framework for
ITSM (IT service management).

COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology) is an internationally

recognised IT governance control framework that helps organisations meet business
challenges in regulatory compliance, risk management and aligning IT strategy with
organisational goals.

Evaluate, the assessment of the company's strategy, portfolios, and connections with
other parties. The organization is regularly assessed by the governing body as external
conditions and stakeholder needs change.

Direct, The governing body designates who is in charge of developing and overseeing the
application of organizational strategy and policies. The direction and prioritization of
organizational activities, future investments, etc. are determined by strategies.

Monitor, The organization's governing board keeps an eye on how well its procedures,
goods, and services are working. This is done to make sure that performance complies
with policies and instructions.
Question 12

Demand management is the process of financially satisfying consumer demand while

preserving service and quality, according to one definition. It has four parts and needs to
be done at three different levels. Organizations must strategically manage total demand as
they invest in new facilities, equipment, and human resources. At the tactical level, the
goal is to coordinate resources in the most lucrative way to increase customer value.
Operational demand management seeks to deliver consistently good performance despite
supply limitations.

Strategical Demand Management focuses on two important things as discussed below −

Pattern of Business Analysis (PBA) is a vital task accomplished by being aware of the
operations of the client and any potential future requirements.

User Profiles, It's the demand pattern that users have demonstrated. Processes, people,
or functions may be involved.

Tactical Level Demand Management

Differential Charging is the primary focus of tactical level demand management. This
method uses different prices for the same IT service function at various periods to enable
demand management.

Question 13

13.1 Availability is the ability of an IT service or other configuration item to perform its
agreed function when required.

13.2 Database availability = 100% * (730 – 28) / 730 = 96.1%

13.3 Total Down Time = 97.8/100 *366 = 8, 5

13.4 Weekly availability = 100% x (168 – 14) / 168 = 91.67%

Question 14

Reliability is a measurement of how long a service, component, or CI can execute its

agreed function uninterrupted. It describes how long a component remains operational
before failing.

Reliability is measured as mean time between service interruptions (MTBSI) by dividing

the time the service was available by the number of breaks.

Reliability can also be measured by the mean time between failures (MTBF) by subtracting
the total downtime from the available time and dividing by the number of breaks.
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