Service Continuity vs. Incident Management

According to ITIL 4 best practice, Service Continuity focuses on events that would impede business operations so drastically that it would be considered a disaster. Other events that have a less significant impact on the business might be considered incidents to be managed through the Incident Management Practice or the Major Incident Management Practice.

This means that there are different levels of importance and that the distinction between what is a normal incident, major incident, or one that might require disaster recovery must be predefined and agreed upon. Documentation then must include clear thresholds and triggers to provoke the appropriate response and recovery into action without delay and additional risk.

There is no question that your organization is increasingly dependent on services that are tech-enabled. The need for resilient solutions is critical to success. A combination of business planning as well as being proactive with security, incident, and problem management will be required. High-availability solutions require upfront proactive design!

ITIL 4 takes a holistic approach to service management (Read What Is ITIL 4) with the constructs of an overall Service Value System. Included in that Value System is a Value Chain. The power of the Value Chain is that it contains elements that can be applied to all of service management.

Service Continuity is applied to all elements of the Value Chain including and not exclusive to:

Plan – The organization's leadership and governing body establish an initial risk appetite with a defined scope, policy, supplier strategy, and investment in recovery options.

Improve – Service Continuity Management ensures that continuity plans, measures, and monitors to ensure ongoing improvement to align with the business strategy.

Engage – Engagement of all stakeholders necessary to ensure readiness for major incidents and disasters!

In order to truly “manage” Service Continuity, Disaster Recovery, and Major Incidents; We must consider Security, Compliance, and High Availability as REQUIREMENTS at the front of the pipeline. Requirements infer that these are considered before the development of software and before the architected solution. We should then be better enabled to design in such a way that would reduce if not eliminate the need for reactive firefighting that frequently spins the support organization out of control!

… Educate & Inspire!

Comments

Four Service Characteristics

Recently I came across several articles by researchers and experts that laid out definitions and characteristics of services. ITIL provides us with a definition that can help drive the creation of value-laden services: A means of delivering value to customers by facilitating outcomes customers want to achieve without the ownership of specific costs and risks. An area that ITIL is not so clear is in terms of service characteristics. Several researchers and experts put forth that services have four basic characteristics (IHIP): Intangibility—Services are the results of actions not things. They have no physical presence and represent a logical set of elements. One way to think of service is “work done for others.” Heterogeneity—Also known as “variability”; services are unique items because of the mechanisms used to deliver services, which is people. Because the people element adds variability, the service is variable. This holds true, especially for the value proposition—not eve...

What Is A Service Offering?

The ITIL 4 Best Practice Guidance defines a “Service Offering” as a description of one or more services designed to address the needs of a target customer or group. As a service provider, we can’t stop there! We must know what the contracts of our service offering are and be able to put them into context as required by the customer. Let’s explore the three elements that comprise a Service Offering. A “Service Offering” may include: Goods, Access to Resources, and Service Actions 1. Goods – When we think of “Goods” within a service offering these are the items where ownership is transferred to the consumer and the consumer takes responsibility for the future use of these goods. Example of goods that are being provided in the offering – If this is a hotel service then toiletries or chocolates are yours to take with you. You the consumer own these and they are yours to take with you. ...

What is the difference between Process Owner, Process Manager and Process Practitioner?

This article was originally published in 2015. With the Introduction of ITIL 4, some of this best practice has changed. See ITIL 4 and the Evolving Role of Roles . Updated Definitions in ITIL 4: Process Owner: In ITIL 4, the concept of 'processes' has expanded into broader 'practices.' Consequently, the Process Owner is now often referred to as the 'Practice Owner.' This individual is accountable for the overall design, performance, integration, and improvement of a specific practice within the organization. They ensure that the practice achieves its intended outcomes and aligns with the organization's objectives. Process Manager: Now commonly known as the 'Practice Manager' in ITIL 4, this role is responsible for the day-to-day management of the practice. The Practice Manager ensures that activities are carried out as intended, manages resources assigned to the practice, and oversees the practitioners performing the work. Process Practit...

Search