Page 96 - DCAP307_PLANNING_AND_MANAGING_IT_INFRASTRUCTURE

Planning and Managing IT Infrastructure

Notes
Did u know? Overall, COBIT represents a comprehensive framework for implementing IT
governance with a very strong auditing and controls perspective, which has increasing
resonance in the era of SarbanesOxley and other compliance-related regulations and
legislation.

5.5.2 ITIL

The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), initially developed in the UK by the Office of Government
Commerce (OGC), is gaining traction in the global IT community as a framework for IT
governance.
The library currently consists of eight books, including: “Software Asset Management,” “Service
Support,” “Service Delivery,” “Security Management,” “Application Management,” “ICT
Infrastructure Management,” “The Business Perspective,” and “Planning to Implement Service
Management” (see Figure 5.1). ITIL is focused on identifying best practices in regards to managing
IT service levels and is particularly process-oriented.

“Planning to Implement Service Management.” This book deals explicitly with the question
of where to start with ITIL. It outlines the steps necessary to identify how the organisation
would benefit from ITIL. It helps identify current strengths and weaknesses and gives
practical guidance on the evaluation of the current maturity levels of service management
within the current organisation.

“The Business Perspective.” The Business Perspective is designed to familiarise business
management with the architecture and components of information and communications
technology (ICT) —infrastructure required to support the business processes. The book
helps business leaders better understand the benefits of best practices in IT service
management.
“Software Asset Management.” This book encompasses the entire infrastructure and
processes necessary for the effective management, control, and protection of the software
assets within an organisation, throughout all stages of their life cycle.
“Service Support.” Service Support focuses on ensuring that the customer has access to
appropriate services to support their business functions. It covers configuration
management and other support management issues including incident, problem, change,
and release management.
“Service Delivery.” Service Delivery covers the service the business requires of IT to
enable adequate support to the business users. This includes processes for service-level
management, availability management, capacity management, ûnancial management for
IT services, and continuity management.
“Security Management.” The security management book of ITIL looks at security from the
service provider perspective, identifying the relationship between security management
and the IT security officer, as well as outlining how it provides the level of security
necessary for the entire organisation. It further focuses on the process of implementing
security requirements identified in the IT service level agreement.
“ICT Infrastructure Management.” This covers all aspects of infrastructure management
from identification of business requirements to acquiring, testing, installation, and
deployment of infrastructure components. It includes the design and planning processes,
deployment processes, operations processes, and technical support processes.

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