Insights Fixing IT’s Most Costly Mistake – Part 2

Fixing IT’s Most Costly Mistake – Part 2

This is Part 2 of a 3 part series on using the ITIL Service Lifecycle Stages to work together with development teams and safely release services into the live environment without the usual chaos and outages that take place with these activities. In Part 1, the framework shown below was presented along with key considerations that both IT development and IT operations need to consider. The framework allows both teams to work together in parallel to produce a live service solution together without the typical chaos, confusion, unplanned costs and outages that tend to take place far too many times when solutions are released into the live environment.

In Part 1, we discussed what should be considered by both IT development and IT operations as the solution progresses through its development lifecycle. Checkpoint gates are conducted at the end of each stage to determine whether teams are ready to proceed to the next stage.

Here, in Part 2, we present what items should be checked for at the end of each stage from an IT support operations point of view.

Production Readiness Process Checkpoint Gates

As the Production Certification Process activities occur, phase gates take place at strategic points to validate that readiness is being put into place. Presented below is an inventory of what should be in place before proceeding to the next gate.

Gate 1: Strategy Phase Gate – Items to check for:

Timing: Just before application design begins

Items That Must Be In Place:

  • A support strategy in place for each framework item (ITIL process area)
  • A high level solution management tooling architecture has been built
  • A high level operating plan is in place for the solution
  • High level application service targets and requirements are documented
  • Application business volumes have been forecasted
  • Results from any support capabilities (process, technology, organization or skills if these were done) are documented
  • A high level training strategy is documented
  • A high level solution support sourcing strategy is documented
  • Cost estimates and a cost model have been developed for building and operating the solution are documented
  • A high level deployment strategy has been documented for the solution
  • A project plan is in place to conduct design activities for support of the solution

Gate 2: Design Phase Gate – Items to check for:

Timing: Just before application build activities begin

Items That Must Be In Place:

  • A design package has been assembled and agreed that provides detailed specifications for each framework item that is in scope – examples might include:
    • Technical tooling specifications
    • Service descriptions/catalogs
    • Designed processes
    • Designed operational procedures
    • Designed roles/responsibilities
    • Designed measurements/reports
    • Designed monitoring
    • SLA/OLA agreements
    • Availability designs
    • Capacity estimates
    • Security designs
    • Physical facility designs
    • Service continuity designs
    • Supplier process and technology integration
    • Component configurations
    • Testing requirements
    • Detailed transition plans
    • Detailed training plans
  • Solution build and operating costs have been updated and reviewed with key solution stakeholders

Gate 3: Readiness Phase Gate – Items to check for:

Timing: Just before application deployment activities begin

Items That Must Be In Place:

  • Detailed Transition Plans are documented
  • Operational Scripts are built
  • Job Schedules are built
  • Run Books have been assembled
  • Solution Documentation is stored in knowledge base
  • Security is configured and installed
  • Access IDs and Passwords are in place
  • Solution Components are configured for production
  • Operational Test Results have been accepted
  • Users have been trained to use the application
  • Support Staff has been trained with needed support skills
  • Solution Known Errors have been given to the Service Desk
  • Monitoring Agents are installed for production use
  • Support Processes have been documented and staff is ready to use them
  • Support Staff resources have been assigned for each needed operating role
  • Service management tools are in place and ready to support production
  • Physical sites are built and environmentally ready to accept solution components
  • Application components have been secured in a staging area ready for deployment
  • All required 3rd party agreements are in place for supporting the solution
  • User Acceptance Results have been accepted
  • Solution operating costs have been updated and reviewed with stakeholders
  • An operating risk assessment has been completed and accepted by IT and business stakeholders

Gate 4: Cutover Phase Gate – Items to check for:

Timing: Just before solution cutover to the live environment

Items That Must Be In Place:

  • All components are in place and ready to go live
  • A back out/recovery plan is in place in case of any deployment failures
  • Management approvals have been obtained to proceed with cutover activities
  • Solution operating costs have been updated and reviewed with key solution stakeholders

Gate 5: Support Phase Gate – Items to check for:

Timing: Within several weeks after the application has gone live

Items That Must Be In Place:

  • Confirmation that operational support activities are working successfully with minimal issues
  • Confirmation that ongoing operating costs will stay within forecasted levels
  • Confirmation that solution benefits are being achieved

Use of the checkpoint gates can go a long way towards mitigating deployment risks and ensuring IT solutions are truly ready for production. It is hoped the checkpoint gates will help to stem the many mistakes and issues that occur as application solutions are deployed.

In Part 3, we will take a look at each ITIL process area, using them as design points to be considered when building infrastructure support for application solutions that are being deployed.