Owns the work instructions

Ensures operational requirements are met for the technology area

Ensures that the right systems are monitored

Facilitates effective monitoring mechanisms

Is the expert on how to monitor, not what to monitor

Owns timing decisions

Plans operational work, including maintenance

What time of day is each service operational?

What are each service’s requirements with respect to availability? Performance? Reliability? Security?

What are the reporting requirements of each service, and to whom are reports directed?

Are there any other expectations or requirements for each service that influence how the IT service must be operated?

Inputs:

SLA

OLA

Functional specifications

Requirements documents

Information from service owner

Output:

A list of operational requirements for the IT service

Best practice:

If an SLA/OLA does not exist for the service, the Technology Area Manager should interview the service owner (the person or business unit that requested the service) using the key questions above to understand his or her expectations. When these results have been documented and signed off on by the service owner, they become the operational requirements for the service—in other words, a basic SLA.

What repetitive tasks/activities are required to perform maintenance on the service (for example, defragmentation of databases)?

What administrative tasks/activities need to be performed (for example, account administration)?

How is the service backed up?

How is the service restored?

In the event of a disaster, what tasks and activities are required to recover the service?

What tasks/activities are required to maintain the security of the service?

What should be monitored to ensure the service is healthy?

How will the service be monitored for performance? Capacity? Availability?

What kinds of reports are necessary to confirm that service levels are being met, and to whom should they be directed?

What other reports must be delivered, and to whom?

What operational tasks/activities are recommended by the vendor of the service?

Which of the service’s operational tasks must be performed manually and which can be automated?

Does the service require any specific operational tools?

Inputs:

Operational guidance from vendor, if applicable

Existing operational guidance/documentation within the IT department

Design and configuration documentation for each IT service in scope

Output:

List of operational work required to operate the service successfully

What operational tasks must be developed to meet operational requirements?

Are there any dependencies between the tasks that require specific sequencing of the work?

Have all operational requirements in the SLA/OLA been addressed?

Has the list of operational work categories been verified with peers?

Input:

List of operational tasks required to operate the service successfully

Outputs:

Operations plan listing:

·        Operational requirements.

·        Operational tasks with description and requirements.

·        Monitoring requirements.

·        Reporting requirements.

Best practice:

Determine the delivery method of the operational tasks. If the tasks are created and executed from a tool or portal, determine whether the operational tasks can be imported into the tool automatically. If they can, make sure the operations plan reflects that.

·        What technologies make up the service?

·        Who in the organisation is knowledgeable about these technologies?

·        Who knows the infrastructure in which the service will be deployed?

·        Who understands the architecture and design of the service being released?

·        Who is responsible for operating the technologies that make up the service?

Inputs:

·        Operations plan

·        Information from Operations Manager

·        Information from Release Manager

Output:

·        A list of administrators and engineers responsible for developing work instructions

Best practices:

·        If IT operations staff is involved, ensure that their schedules allow enough time for fulfilling their proactive IT operations responsibilities.

·        If a service map has been created, use that to identify the technologies composing the service. For more information on service maps, see the Business/IT Alignment SMF.

·        How can vendor information contribute to the development of the work instructions?

·        Is existing operations documentation available?

·        What other relevant operational documentation exists in the IT organisation?

·        Do any tasks or guidelines lack documentation? Who is responsible for them?

Inputs:

·        Operations plan

·        Existing operational documentation

·        Best practices and white papers

·        Architecture and design documentation

·        Configuration documentation

·        IT Operations staff

·        Existing guidance from currently used operations management tools

Output:

·        Information that can serve as input for the work instructions document

Best practice:

·        Make sure that time is not spent reinventing something that already exists.

·        What is the user’s knowledge level? How detailed will the work instructions need to be?

·        What delivery method (document, portal, other) would be most efficient and easiest for the user?

·        What type of information should accompany the work instruction (trigger, duration, tools required, credentials required, user role)?

·        What is the appropriate language (English, Danish, other?) for the work instructions?

·        How can the work instructions meet the requirements stated in the operations plan?

Inputs:

·        Operations plan

·        Operational guidance gathered previously

·        Information and guidance from subject matter experts (SMEs)

Output:

·        A clear, easily deliverable guide containing instructions for the work described in the operations plan

Best practices:

·        Agree on a common template and format for the work instructions.

·        Present the work instructions in a way that is easily consumable by the users (for example, by arranging them according to user role).

·        What are the test criteria?

·        Do users understand each work instruction?

·        Does each work instruction produce the expected result?

·        Does testing of work instructions result in compliance with operational requirements?

Input:

·        Instructions for the operational work described in the operations plan

Outputs:

·        Determination about whether the tests fulfill the test criteria

·        Feedback for writer of work instructions

Best practice:

·        Test the instructions in a setting that replicates as closely as possible the actual production environment.

·        Which of the activities must be executed according to a predetermined schedule (daily, weekly, monthly)?

·        What work is triggered by a request to the Service Desk – that is, not executed according to a predetermined schedule? Examples are account management or provisioning of a new desktop computer.

·        What work is support related (for example, predefined responses or solutions to known problems)?

Input:

·        Operations guide

Output:

·        List of operational activities sorted by responsible roles

Best practices:

·        Make sure the Customer Service desk addresses work that requires a rapid response.

·        Assign work that is difficult to document to administrators or Technology Area Managers.

·        Does the Operations team’s current workload allow members to execute this work while fulfilling their existing responsibilities? What is the current workload of the people with the appropriate skills?

·        Would it be more cost effective to outsource some of the work?

·        Who has the skills required to execute the operational work? Are there people on the Operations team who are not fully utilised and who can be trained to do this work?

·        Can the workload of the existing resources be balanced differently?

Inputs:

·        Operations guide

·        Service request

Output:

·        List of operational activities sorted by responsible roles with resources assigned

Best practices:

·        Assign the Customer Service desk all work requiring rapid response, this will free the Operations team to complete all proactive work.

·        Ensure that the Operations team performs only uninterrupted work, such as preventive maintenance and administrative work that does not require immediate action.

·        If an Operations team member is ever called upon to do reactive work, make sure that it does not interfere with the proactive work – or, if possible, assign someone else to perform the proactive operational work instead.

·        Prioritise and complete proactive work according to the operations guide. Failing to do this will result in more reactive work, which will put the Operations team into “firefighting” mode and will hamper its efforts to work effectively and efficiently.

·        If the Operations team is spending increasing amounts of time doing reactive work, consider hiring outside resources to help remediate the root causes of the reactive work.

·        What is the estimated time needed to complete each work instruction? Should instructions be tested to get a more accurate estimate?

·        Will the resources assigned to the work be able to complete it within the time specified?

Inputs:

·        Operations guide

·        Experience from similar tasks

·        Capability of assigned resources

Output:

·        Operations guide with listing of task durations

Best practice:

·        Make sure that the people responsible for completing the work estimate its duration. This ensures that differences in skills between the person who developed the work instruction and the person executing it are taken into consideration. It also encourages buy in from the people executing the work.

·        Must any of the operational work be performed in a certain sequence?

·        Does the work have a performance impact on the production system?

·        Does the work affect the availability of the service (for example, does it require a restart or a shift into maintenance mode)?

·        Does the work require specific approvals before execution?

Input:

·        Operations guide

Output:

·        Operations guide listing dependencies and sequences, if applicable

·        Does the service level agreement mention availability and uptime requirements that affect the planning of operational work?

·        What is the required sequence for the operational work?

·        Will the work affect service availability? Has a service window been established?

·        When can the work be completed without affecting the end users?

·        When are the assigned resources available to perform the work?

·        Is a common planning tool available for all affected IT staff to use?

Input:

·        Operations guide

Output:

·        Operations schedule

·        Is the work instruction understandable and easy to follow?

·        Will following the work instruction always produce the same result?

·        How can the operator and administrator provide structured feedback about operational tasks?

·        Can any of the work be partially or fully automated?

Inputs:

·        Operations schedule

·        Operations guide

Output:

·        Completed operational work for user noted in the operations log

·        Is the operations log easily available and simple to update?

Input:

·        Completed operational work

Outputs:

·        Updated operations log

·        Maintenance request

·        Have any abnormalities been experienced during execution? Do they require further investigation?

·        Can any processes be changed to optimise quality or speed?

Input:

·        Completed operational work

Output:

·        Agenda item or notes for the Operational Health MR

·        Does the administrator have the skills required to change the work instruction, or should it be changed by the Technology Area Manager?

·        Will the subject matter expert need to be available for questions about the work instructions?

·        Is the change within the scope of change management, or can it be deployed within the Maintain Operational Work Instructions process?

Input:

·        Request for maintenance

Outputs:

·        Change request

·        Modified work instructions

·        Does the update affect the duration of the work instruction?

·        Does it change any of the dependencies?

·        Does it change resources assigned to execute the work instruction?

·        Does it require any added interaction between operational tools?

Input:

·        Modified work instruction

Output:

·        Updated operations guide

·        Has the operational work been completed as planned in the operations schedule? If not, why not?

·        Has the completed work produced the desired outcome? If not, why not?

·        Have Operational Health MRs been conducted?

·        Have the OHMRs resulted in actions that improve service delivery or optimise resources?

Inputs:

·        Operations log

·        Operations schedule

·        Operations guide

·        OHMRs

Output:

·        Feedback for the operations staff on work performed and not performed

Best practice:

·        Ensure that management follows up to ensure that work has been completed.

·        Can the schedule be adjusted to improve efficient utilisation of people and resources?

·        Have any improvement areas been identified by the Operations staff?

·        Can any of the work be completed by the Customer Service desk?

·        Can any of the work be fully or partially automated?

·        Which systems or technologies consume most of the team’s time?

·        Could the number of systems and technologies be reduced so that less time is required to complete them?

Inputs:

·        Operations log

·        Operations schedule

·        Information from Scheduling Manager

·        ORMs

Output:

·        Updated operations plan

·        Have reactive and proactive responsibilities been separated so that no one is doing both simultaneously?

·        Are the decisions for balance between proactive and reactive operational activities kept even though firefighting support issues show up?

·        Are any operational tools used to handle the use of Operations staff?

·        Does operations management have a balanced workload model to refer to?

·        Are specialist resources performing work that can be delegated to people with less experience?

·        Are any Operations team members underutilised? Could any of the prescriptive operational work be assigned to them?

Inputs:

·        Operations log

·        Operations schedule

·        Scheduling Manager

·        OHMRs

Output:

·        Updated operations plan

Best practice:

·        Operational management should ensure that backup assistance is available for operational staff in situations requiring immediate support work.