Integrated Service Management and Cloud Computing: More Than Just Technology Best Friends 2 Integrated Service Management and Cloud Computing
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IBM Global Technology Services September 2010 Thought Leadership White Paper Integrated service management and cloud computing: More than just technology best friends 2 Integrated service management and cloud computing Contents systems management disciplines evolved, and there has been much discussion and many publications clarifying the proper 2 Introduction role of IT service management. IT and IT services are now 3 Setting the stage: Service management is… described in a different way. The IT Infrastructure Library®, Version 3 (ITIL V3) defines service management as “a set of 4 Cloud computing is… specialized organizational capabilities for providing value to customers in the form of (IT) services.”1 The consensus is 5 Lessons learned: Service management is to cloud as electricity is to computing that excellent service management is essential to derive the maximum benefit from a firm’s investment in information 10 Conclusion technology. Introduction More recently, cloud computing has become an increasingly popular means of delivering valuable, IT-enabled business ● Are you wondering about the role Integrated Service Management plays in cloud computing? services. Customers and end users access the IT service cata- log through self-service portals, using and paying for only ● Are you wondering how all that hard work you did to implement ITIL® applies to a new cloud computing those services they need, when and where they need them. For environment? many enterprises and their IT organizations, adopting a cloud model is one path to cost efficiency and effective IT-enabled ● Are you wondering what new requirements cloud comput- ing will introduce for your existing service management business. And vital to being able to deliver, or even access, a capabilities? cloud-based environment is Integrated Service Management. ● And while cloud computing may save you money, are you wondering where the integration necessary to connect and While most traditional IT service management disciplines operate efficiently will come from? remain sound practices, a cloud-based service delivery model emphasizes essential competencies in new ways. Cloud serv- While the business side and user community have long ices may originate from a variety of sources and the CIO must had an appreciation of services-based thinking, many IT transparently integrate and manage these services to customers organizations are just beginning to adopt the principles behind and end users. Integration is crucial to success in cloud envi- service management and its benefits. Following the successes ronments because of the need to orchestrate the actions of of process re-engineering, IT (and its customers) came to partners, vendors and customers in keeping with the firm’s understand that they were providing and consuming services, strategic intent for IT. The requirements are clear: Integrated not just providing access to technology. As a result, traditional Service Management is more, not less, important in a cloud environment. In fact, it is indispensible. IBM Global Technology Services 3 This paper defines key aspects of Integrated Service Integrated Service Management extends the traditional notion Management and cloud computing and describes their symbi- of an IT infrastructure to one that encompasses many intelli- otic relationship. As tightly intertwined as are electricity and gent devices such as smart electric meters and traffic con- computing, Integrated Service Management and cloud com- trollers into high automated networks. These devices work puting are now a matched pair. We discuss lessons IBM has together to generate technology-enabled business services. learned on how to weave them together to achieve optimal Integrated Service Management recognizes IT management business results at the lowest level of risk. processes as a specialized form of integrated business processes rather than something outside “the rest of the business”; Setting the stage: Service therefore, the same techniques and value provided through management is... integrated applications to business processes apply equally well When examined at a greater level of detail than the ITIL V3 to IT management processes. definition, service management comprises the whole of the governance, processes, role and responsibility definitions, tools Tailored for specific industry requirements and business situa- for automation, required information and best practices that tions, Integrated Service Management is the latest evolution- integrate and operate available resources to produce valued ary step in IT management, enabling organizations to: services, and respond quickly to the needs of a business and its customers—for both legacy and cloud environments. The ● Blend the processes, organization and technology necessary scope of service management includes anticipating business to support current and future IT-enabled businesses needs, service portfolio management, service life cycle man- ● Promote the widespread use of defined policies in support of agement, service operation and continuous improvement. fast and accurate responsiveness Service management is about the collaboration that takes place ● Provide the foundation for analysis of critical, real-time to create value between communities of customers and users, information, enabling the quick decision making that the and communities of providers and suppliers. This means going dynamic global marketplace demands beyond infrastructure management to provide business service management. The result is that Integrated Service Management links the entire business, including IT management, directly to the The mission of Integrated Service Management has finally technology resources it needs. received long overdue recognition as a critical success factor in The Service Integrator role enterprise information technology. Integrated Service Integrated Service Management spans the business, IT and Management enables organizations to deliver innovative busi- partners. The CIO sponsors effectiveness and innovation ini- ness services by providing higher levels of visibility, control tiatives for all technology elements of the business infrastruc- and automation that extend beyond traditional management of ture, not just the traditional catalog of IT-enabled business IT service delivery and into business service delivery. services. The Service Integrator role is formally chartered to 4 Integrated service management and cloud computing carry out governance, ensure well-managed relationships and retain accountability for end-to-end service performance. The Cloud Service Cloud Service Provider Cloud Service Consumer Developer Service Integrator must also facilitate organizational change Interface Business-Process-as-a-Service User Cloud API Software-as-a-Service Services Consumer Platform-as-a-Service that results in staff becoming more productive faster and a Developer End user Infrastructure-as-a-Service culture of cooperation, all as part of managing a complex mul- (Virtualized) Infrastructure – Server, Storage, Network, Facilities Infrastructure for hosting Cloud Services and Common Cloud Management Platform tisourced environment. The individual or team performing Partner Clouds this role must be responsive, unhampered by organizational Common Cloud Management Platform Offering Mgmt Customer Mgmt Pricing & Rating BSS boundaries, and decisive. Business Order Mgmt Entitlement Mgmt Subscriber Mgmt Support Consumer Service Development Portal Services General accounting Invoice Billing Peering & Settlement Service Business Contract & Development Service Delivery Portal Opportunity to Order Service Offering Manager Agreement Mgmt Catalog Tool Metering, Analytics & Reporting Service Definition Cloud computing is… API Tools Service Delivery Catalog Cloud computing is emerging as an important model for Service Templates Service Automation Management OSS Service Request Change & Configuration Image Lifecycle Consumer Operational Management Management Management Support In-house IT Provisioning Incident & Problem IT Service Level delivering valuable, IT-enabled business services. It is a model Services Management Management Monitoring & Event IT Asset & Capacity & Performance Management License Management Management Virtualization Mgmt Image Creation that enables and supports both a particular style of business Tools Consumer Service Transition Manager model and a specific kind of user experience. Cloud comput- Administrator Service Business Manager Service Provider Portal Service Operations Manager ing applications, data and IT resources are presented to users Security & Resiliency Service Security Manager through self-service portals. Requested services are delivered transparently over the network. “Cloud,” as it is commonly called, offers economies of scale and flexible sourcing options Figure 1. IBM Cloud Computing Reference Architecture to the business. Another part of this emerging construct is an infrastructure management methodology for managing large The IBM Cloud Computing Reference Architecture high- numbers of highly virtualized resources. These virtualized lights how service management functions and services can be resources can reside in multiple locations, but still perform as structured in the context of a “cloud,” linking the business to a single large resource to deliver services. Figure 1 illustrates the technology resources it needs as Integrated Service the relationships between virtualized resources and various Management. types of services. Basic cloud services are