bITa Center

Authors: Dave Pultorak, Pete Quagliariello and Rolf Akker

The Microsoft Operations Framework is an ITIL based set of best practices, principles and models that can be used for other platforms as well.

The guide also shows how MOF integrates with Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF). Both frameworks are complementary in Microsoft's approach to help organizations in delivering innovative solutions and achieving operational excellence.

MOF is Microsoft's structured approach to help customers to achieve operational excellence on the Microsoft platform. 'MOF, a pocket guide' is a description of Microsoft Operations Framework: a set of best practices, principles and models that is meant to expand, not subsitute, 'best practice' ITIL. The director of MOF illustrates this point of view in his foreword by quoting sir Isaac Newton: "if I see further , it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants". Giants are the people that made ITIL into what it is now.

MOF pays a lot of attention to Operations Management, one of the lesser developed areas of the core publications of ITIL. That's why the subtitle of the book is 'IT Service Operations Management'. Allthough the pocket guide is written for the IT Service Management of Microsoft products, the generic part can be used for other platforms and systems as well.

'MOF, a pocket guide' was edited by Inform-IT, reviewed by a worldwide team of quality auditors and published by Van Haren Publishing.

Service Delivery is the second element in the new ITIL Infrastructure Library to be published, and will shortly be available on CD-ROM.Service providers need to offer business users adequate support - Service Delivery covers all aspects that must be taken into consideration.

Issues covered include Service Level Management, Financial Management for IT Services, IT Service Continuity Management, Availability Management Contingency Planning and Capacity Management. Each component of service delivery is discussed separately in the book. The purpose of Service Delivery is to show the links and the principal relationships between all the Service Management and other Infrastructure Management processes.

ITIL (the IT Infrastructure Library) is the most widely accepted approach to IT service management in the world, ITIL provides a comprehensive and consistent set of best practices for IT service management, promoting a quality approach to achieving business effectiveness and efficiency in the use of information systems. ITIL is based on the collective experience of commercial and governmental practitioners worldwide. This has been distilled into one reliable, coherent approach, which is fast becoming a de facto standard used by some of the world's leading businesses.

The aim of this book is to give the reader key issues to be considered when planning for the implementation of IT Service Management. The book explains the steps required to implement or improve IT service provision.

The book provides guidance on alignment of the business needs to IT. It enables the reader to assess if IT service provision is meeting the requirements of the business. Where the business requirements are not being met it details the steps necessary to ensure the IT service provision does meet the current and future needs of the business.

The aim therefore is to give practical guidance in evaluating the current maturity levels of Service Management and on implementing improvement to the processes. This book is one of a series issued as part of ITIL that documents industry best practice for the support and delivery of IT services. Although this book can be read in isolation, it is recommended that it be used in conjunction with the other ITIL books. Service Management is a generic concept and the guidance in the ITIL books is applicable generically. The guidance is also scaleable - applicable to both small and large organisations. It applies to distributed and centralised systems, whether in-house or supplied by third parties. It is neither bureaucratic nor unwieldy if implemented sensibly and in full recognition of the business needs of the organisation.

In recent years, IT Service Management has developed into a field in its own right. Organizations are now so dependent on the automation of large parts of their business processes that the quality of IT services and the synchronization of these services with the needs of the organization are now essential to their survival.

This introduction to IT Service Management, published by ITSMF, is based on the latest edition of the ITIL books and is intended to serve as:
a thorough and convenient introduction to the field of IT Service Management and the books in the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) a self-study guide that contains all the material needed to prepare for the Foundation Certificate examination in IT Service Management. While this book may serve as a textbook, it is not a theoretical book. Instead, it contains a wealth of practical knowledge collected by the editorial board. This practical knowledge and the introduction to the field of IT service management make the book useful even for those not preparing for the examination.

Since no single publication can have the answers to all the questions that arise in a field so multifaceted as IT Service Management, the aim of the book is to raise key questions, to encourage discussions and the comparison of the best practices found in the book with the reader's own experience.

We expect that this book will fulfill a clear need, and it deserves not just to be read and studied, but also to be used wisely in practice.

The Introduction to ITIL CD is a unique product that covers all the components parts of the core ITIL set. It complements the more complex ITIL core products as an efficient entry level to the ITIL literature. It is officially endorsed by IPESC (The International Publications Executive Sub Committee of itSMF) and also by OGC (the Office of Government Commerce).
This CD is different from the VHP published title: Foundations of Service Management based on ITIL. The Foundations title is aimed at the trainee market and covers Service Support, Service Delivery, Security Management and a chapter on exams. It does not cover the full ITIL topics – only those relevant for the Foundation exam.

ISPL, the Information Services Procurement Library, provides a framework based on best practices for the acquisition and management of ongoing services and projects. As an open standard, ISPL mainly focuses on the customer perspective, but provides valuable support for suppliers as well. More and more suppliers are required to make their offers or bids and manage their services based on ISPL.

This reference guide presents an overview of ISPL and a reference for those who apply ISPL in their job or in an acquisition process. This guide is not intended to be a course on ISPL or to document ISPL in detail; for these purposes other books on ISPL are more appropriate.

This reference guide is based on the ‘official’ ISPL publications by EXIN:
• Introduction to ISPL
• Managing Acquisition Processes
• Managing Risks and Planning Deliverables
• Specifying Deliverables

Around 66% of projects fail. This book shows senior managers how PRINCE2 allows them to delegate yet retain control of the big picture, and how projects can be initiated and run successfully without massive management cost or overhead. In short, this publication helps ensure that business projects succeed, and yield the expected benefits

CD-ROM Single version IT Service Management is de afgelopen jaren wereldwijd uitgegroeid tot een erkend vakgebied. Organisaties zijn inmiddels zo afhankelijk van de automatisering van grote delen van hun bedrijfsprocessen dat de kwaliteit van de IT-dienstverlening en de afstemming van die dienstverlening op eisen van de organisatie een zaak van levensbelang is geworden.

De door ITSMF uitgegeven introductie op IT Service Management is inmiddels in Nederland hét standaardwerk voor een grondige kennismaking met het vakgebied. Het is zowel een overzichtelijke introductie op de boeken uit de IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) als een studieboek ter voorbereiding op het EXIN-examen voor het Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management.

information Technology Service management practioners and for those taking the Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management. It is a complementary publication to the complete IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) which is discussed in more detail in the section on IT Service Management Best Practice.

The Pocket Guide explains the processes involved in the two key areas of Service management, and thier application to the complete service life-cycle. Service Support and Service Delivery.