"Controlling the IT Infrastructure and ensuring that only authorised hardware and software are in use."

Organisations implement Configuration Management processes, procedure and ultimately a CMDB to provide control and availability of asset information ranging from IT Infrastructure, applications, documentation and environmental equipment.

The primary benefit behind the implementation of Configuration Management is to equip the Service Desk with a much greater insight into the relationship between users, CI's and Incidents. Reviewing and streamlining configuration should result in a reduction in the number of people assigned to Incident matching.

"Ensuring continuity of service levels while underpinning the Service Desk function."

Incident Management is the first level of escalation after the Service Desk for the management of one major incident or many incidents that constitute a serious impact on the business. The implementation of Incident Management is designed to result in a decrease in the amount of time a user is on the phone to the Service Desk, or cannot work because of a failure.

"Minimizing disruption of the service level"

The Problem Management discipline is the next level of escalation after the Service Desk and Incident Management. Organizations adopt and implement Problem Management functions to ensure there is a defined process and associated procedures available to manage high profile service impacting failures.

A high ratio of recurring Incidents is one of the most common causes of an inefficient helpdesk. Problem Management is designed to decrease the amount of recurring Incidents that take place.

"Encouraging efficient handling of Changes"

The Change Management function provides a process and associated procedures to enable effective initiation, planning, control, implementation and review of all changes to defined assets. Without Change Management a situation could easily arise where two Changes are implemented simultaneously, which is likely to result in a major problem.

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"Ensuring authorized software modules are used, providing means to build Change releases and automating release of software"

Suppose that a new software module is released containing a bug. The previous version should be reinstalled but due to poor Version Management the wrong one is used resulting in a system shutdown that lasts for three hours and affects two thirds of employees.

Release Management standards are designed to avoid situations such as these occurring. The benefits of Release Management can be more difficult to quantify than other Service Management disciplines as, similarly to best practice information security, if Release Management is working properly the benefits are intangible. However when proper analysis of what a malfunction could cost is completed, the benefits do become apparent.

Service Level Management is essential in ensuring that the level of service required to support the user can be understood and delivered. Its implementation allows monitoring of service to identify whether required levels are being achieved - and if not, for what reason.

Service Level Management applies a clear set of agreements that work to ensure the Service Desk is untroubled by calls that do not relate to the services it offers.

"Guaranteeing high availability of services"

The goal of the Availability process is to optimize the capability of the IT infrastructure, services and supporting organization to deliver a cost effective and sustained level of availability.

For example, if, due to a physical error on a hard disk, a server supporting 100 people crashes it is likely to take a significant amount of time to have a new disk delivered and installed before starting up the system again. With Availability Management processes in place, the need for a mirror disk that could immediately takeover would have been identified, negating the risk.

"Ensuring the optimal use of IT"

The Capacity Management function is primarily responsible for ensuring all IT services are scoped and capacity is assigned sufficiently to meet the demands and expectations of an organization both for today and the future. Most IT professionals recognize that being under-equipped will lead to problems with Service Delivery but many overlook the cost issues over-capacity can create.

Using BundSystems's benchmark of a 20 per cent improvement direct from Capacity Management, an IT infrastructure that cost £5 million to build would save up to £1 million following implementation and frequent reassessment to define the required capacity.

"Recovering quickly after a disaster"

The key output of Service Continuity is the understanding of the services that are of primary importance to the business and the production of plans to manage the 'worst case scenario'. In essence, Service Continuity is adopted to ensure an organisation can safeguard itself against extraordinary events which could result in the loss of critical services for an extended period.

Should, for example, a water pipe break, flooding the server room and two days be needed to fix the situation, the average user will have missed 10 hours of work. While a good contingency plan doesn't come cheap, the recovery costs are often dramatic, especially considering that not having one in place could jeopardise the future of the business.