00 AVM SBU Induction Manual

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Preface
About this Manual
Abbreviations
1. AVM Essentials
- 1.1 Organization Structure of AVM
- 1.2 AVM SBU Objectives
  - 1.2.1 AVM SBU Operating Model (Before/After)
2. Different Tracks in AVM SBU
3. Our focus areas in Application Management Services
4. AVM Industrialization
5. Levels of Engagement
6. Different Levels of Support (L1/L2/L3/L4) in Application Management
7. ITIL Demystified
8. Mandatory Boot Camp and Trainings
9. Key Portals in AVM and Referral
- 9.1 Key Portals in AVM
- 9.2 Referral
Appendix
ITIL Glossary – Commonly used terms

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

AVM SBU - Induction Manual

Manual Use Policy

This Induction Manual is for Cognizant internal circulation only and not intended for full distribution to a prospect or client. All material in this

induction manual is, unless otherwise stated, owned by Cognizant AVM CoE. Changes, reproduction, or distribution of this induction manual,

must not be done without the prior written consent of AVM CoE. For requests to reproduce or distribute this induction manual, please contact

the AVM CoE at avmcoe@cognizant.com

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Revision History

Document Name: AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Version No: 1.0

Owner: AVM Center of Excellence

Version

No.

Release

Date

Authors

Reviewed by

Updates

1.0

8/18/2015

Abraham A Jothimani

ITIL V3 Expert

Arumugam Natesan,

S, Mohan Kumar

Anand Iyer,

Giridhar Jagannathan,

K S, Raamsathishkumar,

Sriram Guruswamy

First Release

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Table of Contents

Preface ................................................................................................................................................. 5

About This Manual ................................................................................................................................ 5

Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................................... 6

1. AVM Essentials .................................................................................................................................. 8

1.1 Organization Structure of AVM ................................................................................................................. 9

1.2 AVM SBU Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 9

1.2.1 AVM SBU Operating Model (Before/After) ....................................................................................... 10

2. Different Tracks in AVM SBU ............................................................................................................ 12

2.1 Tools Development Track ....................................................................................................................... 12

2.2 Analytics Track ........................................................................................................................................ 13

2.3 Operations Track ..................................................................................................................................... 15

2.3.1 Associate Movement ........................................................................................................................ 15

2.3.2 Evangelize and Training .................................................................................................................... 15

2.3.3 Project ESA Tagging .......................................................................................................................... 15

2.3.4 Moving into Service based delivery .................................................................................................. 15

2.3.5 Baseline and Goal Setting ................................................................................................................. 15

2.3.6 As-is Assessment ............................................................................................................................... 15

2.3.7 CSI/Transformation Kick-Off ............................................................................................................. 16

2.3.8 Customer Messaging ........................................................................................................................ 16

2.4 AVM SBU Implementation Track ............................................................................................................ 17

3. Our focus areas in Application Management Services ....................................................................... 17

4. AVM Industrialization ...................................................................................................................... 19

5. Levels of Engagement ...................................................................................................................... 21

6. Different Levels of Support (L1/L2/L3/L4) in Application Management .............................................. 24

7. ITIL Demystified ............................................................................................................................... 25

8. Mandatory Boot Camp and Trainings ............................................................................................... 31

9. Key Portals in AVM and Referral ...................................................................................................... 32

9.1 Key Portals in AVM .................................................................................................................................. 32

9.2 Referral .................................................................................................................................................... 32

Appendix

ITIL Glossary – Commonly used terms .................................................................................................. 34

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

List of Figures

Fig 1: Hub and Spokes Model ..................................................................................................... 8

Fig 2: Organization Chart of AVM ............................................................................................... 9

Fig 3: Goals and Objectives of AVM SBU ................................................................................... 10

Fig 4: Operating Model: Before the Introduction of AVM SBU .................................................. 11

Fig 5: Operating Model: After the Introduction of AVM SBU .................................................... 11

Fig 6: Analytics in AVM ............................................................................................................ 14

Fig 7: Overall AVM SBU On-boarding plan ................................................................................ 16

Fig 8: Two major focus areas in AVM ........................................................................................ 17

Fig 9: AVM Industrialization (Before and After) ........................................................................ 19

Fig 10: Industrialization of MPS (One MPS) ................................................................................ 20

Fig 11: Industrialization of MAS (One MAS) ................................................................................ 21

Fig 12: Levels of Engagement ..................................................................................................... 22

Fig 13: Key Tenets of Managed Services ..................................................................................... 23

Fig 14: Incident Management .................................................................................................... 28

Fig 15: Problem Management .................................................................................................... 28

Fig 16: Service Request .............................................................................................................. 29

Fig 17: Change Management ..................................................................................................... 29

Fig 18: Levels of Certification in ITIL ........................................................................................... 31

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Preface

Providing assimilation mechanisms for new employees positively reflects on their productivity,

excellence and increases the level of job satisfaction. As a matter of fact, the Induction program and

Induction manual for new employees is deemed to be important since it constitutes the starting

point for an ideal work relationship between the employee and their employer, and it provides

positive work environment for creative delivery.

About this Manual

This manual is designed to support the new employees so that they adapt and get involved quickly

in the workplace by understanding their responsibilities, which helps to boost their passion for work

and loyalty to the institution. The manual serves as a reference document for induction program for

the new associated at AVM and documents all important information related to induction program.

This manual is developed based on several experiences and best practices, shared by the different

Leads and other members of AVM.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Abbreviations

ACV

Annual Contract Value

AVM

Application Value Management

Application Development

ADAPT

Application Analysis, Due Diligence, Acclimatization, Process and

Infrastructure Convergence, Transition

Account Manager

ASL

Application Services Library

ASP

Advance Solutions Practice

BAFO

Best and Final Offer

Business Unit

BFS

Banking and Financial Services

CBC

Cognizant Business Consulting

CCA

Cognizant Career Architecture

CMDB

Configuration Management Database

Change Management

CoE

Center of Excellence

Client Partner

CTB

Change The Business

DevOps

Development Operations

Delivery Manager

Delivery Director

EAS

Enterprise Application Services

EIM

Enterprise Information Management

EOI

Expression of Interest

FTE

Full Time Employee

Health Care

HybrAID

Hybrid Apps Infra Delivery

INS

Insurance

Intervention Plan

ISmO

Integrated Smart Operations

ITIL

Information Technology Infrastructure Library

ITIS

IT Infrastructure Services

KPI

Key Performance Indicator

Knowledge Transfer/Transition

Life Sciences

MLEU

Manufacturing, Logistics, Energy and Utilities

OLA

Operational Level Agreement

POC

Point of Contact

Proj

Project

Project Manager

RCA

Release Control Acceptance

RCG

Retail and Consumer Goods

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

RFP

Request For Proposal

RFI

Request For Information

RFQ

Request For Quote

Release Management

RTB

Run the Business

SBU

Strategic Business Unit

SDLC

Software Development Life Cycle

SMO

Service Management Office

SPOC

Single Point of Contact

SLA

Service Level Agreement

TCV

Total Contract Value

TEMS

Test Environment Management

T&H

Travel and Hospitality

Transition Manager

Transformation Office

UAT

User Acceptance Training

XBS

Xerox Business Services

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

1. AVM Essentials

Application Management Services is referred to as AVM and Center of Excellence is referred to as

CoE. We differentiate ourselves from the traditional Application Management by addressing the

dual focus on Transformation and Service Management thereby adding value to the clients and

hence we call it as Application Value Management (AVM) Services. AVM CoE team in Cognizant

provides leadership, evangelization, best practices, research, support and training for Application

Value Management Services.

AVM is headed by Arun Baid and his counterparts at Onsite are Ilanko Kumaresan and Udayasuryan

Gummidipoondy. AVM in Cognizant operates in a Hub and Spokes Model where the Hub is the AVM

CoE and the Spokes are the AVM SBU’s from different verticals.

Fig 1: Hub and Spokes Model

Here, the AVM CoE is the Engineering Arm and the AVM SBU is the Execution Arm. The aim of this

model is to industrialize all the findings, constructs, best practices etc. evolved from AVM CoE into

the delivery of AVM engagements across Cognizant through different AVM SBUs. This is spearheaded

by Srinivasan Thiagarajan who is responsible for the Engineering arm (AVM CoE) and Selvakumaran

Mannappan who is responsible for the implementation arm (AVM SBU).

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

1.1 Organization Structure of AVM

Fig 2: Organization Chart of AVM

1.2 AVM SBU Objectives

 Industrialization leading to reduced Cost of Delivery + enabling faster Transformation

o Create / enhance the required Frameworks, Process artifacts, Tools

o On board AVM engagements on to the AVM platform

o One Managed Production Services model including ISmO

o Centralized Transition Services for the Application tower

 Help increase ‘Win-Ratio’ of AVM deals

 Thought leadership and Mindshare gain with Analysts and Intermediaries

o Specialized Business Development support leveraging App-Infra synergies

 ISmO, DevOps, TEMS, Business SLAs

o Launching new consulting service offerings under the AVM-CBC umbrella

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Fig 3: Goals and Objectives of AVM SBU

1.2.1 AVM SBU Operating Model (Before/After)

A BU in Cognizant typically comprises of AD and AVM projects. The AVM projects in a business

unit is identified and reorganized under AVM SBU. The AVM SBU Heads report to the

corresponding BU Heads, but the AVM SBU has its own governance in place. Projects activities

for L1 support level are assessed by the ITIS team for scoping to the ITIS practice. This is to

bring synergies between the App & Infra L1 Support layers, resulting into better end user

experience and cost efficiencies.

The representation below identifies the organization chart for AVM SBU, the key groups and

responsibilities.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Fig 4: Operating Model: Before the Introduction of AVM SBU

Fig 5: Operating Model: After the Introduction of AVM SBU

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

2. Different Tracks in AVM SBU

2.1 Tools Development Track

The primary activity of this track is to develop in-house tools depending on the requirements

needed across all tracks in the AVM Space. They also provide on-boarding support for these

tools.

The following are the most commonly used tools and platforms in AVM Landscape developed by

the Tools track:

Demo Link

AVM DART – A standalone Data Analytics and

Reporting Tool aligned to ITIL based Services. Ticket

Analysis Support for On-going/ESA and RFP/RFI

projects. Integrated with workflow based Effort

Tracking framework.

AVM DART – Overview

AVM DART – Dashboard and Service

Operational Metrics

AVM DART - Effort Tracking

AVM DART – Portfolio

AVM DART – Ticket Analyzer

AVM DART – Self Start & Configuration

AVM DART

Eaglei – It is a web based SLA Monitoring tool to define

and track Acknowledgement, Response and Resolution

SLAs. It has a near Real time dashboard with a ticker

that flashes impending SLA breaches for all the

applications under a production support program. It

also provides Key Metrics such as SLA, Influx\backlog

and critical tickets. This is mainly applicable for

Production support projects with stringent SLA or

heavy influx of tickets with 100+ in a day.

Eagle I – Demo

Eagle I – Overview

Knowledge Transition Portal – This portal is a unique

tool-based model for Knowledge Transition which

includes a scientific approach to identify the

complexity of applications for effective planning and

drive end-to-end transition execution.

Knowledge Transition Portal

Estimation Portal – This Portal is used to estimate the

FTE’s required for different services in AVM Service

Estimation Portal

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

line.

SoW Portal – This portal is used to generate standard

SoW/Contract template for AVM Service line projects.

SOW Portal

Shift Roster – Shift Roster is a proactive web based

planning tool for creating and managing shifts which

helps in better, faster and easier planning of staffing

for shift based projects. It automates the Shift Roster

generation process using pre-defined shift pattern.

Shift Roster Introduction

Shift Roster Demo

CSI and Transformation – This portal helps the BU to

track the progress of CSI and Transformation

initiatives. It helps the CSI team or project team with

creation/Tracking of CSI plans and the benefits of

these initiatives.

CSI & Transformation Portal – New user

onboarding

Creating CSI Plan

Approving CSI Plan

Tracking CSI Plan

Validating CSI Plan

Completing CSI Plan

AVM Genie Lamp – A home grown, wizard based data

analysis tool which is completely driven by user needs

to generate the required charts based on their wish

for any kind of column based data effectively and

efficiently. This can be used for application diagnostic

assessments, RFP analysis or for any general data

analysis process with least constraints.

2.2 Analytics Track

With the current explosion of data (2.5 quintillion bytes of data created everyday) the need for

Analytics to make real time decisions is on high demand. This track focuses on applying science

based techniques to extract meaningful insights which add business value for service lines across

AVM.

The key activities of the track involves

• Converting raw data into knowledge “to support decision making” using statistical tool

like “R”, Minitab etc.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

• Identify “insights” that are both “Hindsight” and “Foresight” in nature. Where “Hindsight”

intelligence are extract via “Descriptive Analytics” & “Diagnostics Analytics” and

“Foresight” intelligence are extracted via “Predictive Analytics” and “Prescriptive

Analytics”.

Fig 6: Analytics in AVM

The track has also came up with Cognizant’s proprietary algorithms in the following areas

 Automation potential identification.

 Influx reduction opportunity.

 Cross skilling opportunity.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

2.3 Operations Track

The operations track involves in tracking & monitoring existing AVM SBU projects; On-boarding

new AVM SBU Projects; track the associates and tag them to projects; analyzing their

effectiveness; creating strategies to improve productivity and efficiency; managing the CSI &

Transformation programs; Analyze the Win-Loss and send Scorecard reports to the management.

The following are the other key activities of this track.

2.3.1 Associate Movement

AVM SBU people track provides exciting AVM roles and career options for the associates. The

PM along with DD and TM would do a mapping exercise for each associate as per the role they

play in the AVM project. These roles are Core Service delivery, Service Management

(SMO/TO), SME and Transition roles

2.3.2 Evangelize and Training

All associates have to undergo trainings and Knowledge assessments (SA- population) on AVM

SBU constructs during the on boarding process. This helps them understand AVM Constructs

in detail.

2.3.3 Project ESA Tagging

This covers Project tagging and mapping of Service level (L1, L2, L3, and L4) in ESA. It also

helps to know the no. of project & FTE who have on-boarded on this initiative and also the

support level offered as part of an engagement.

2.3.4 Moving into Service based delivery

Discover & identify the services offered and configure the MS process package in C2.0 by

selecting appropriate metrics and base lining the same with the help of ticket dump.

2.3.5 Baseline and Goal Setting

Operational & Financial parameters will be base lined and target will be set with the help of

PM/DM of the project, to precisely track the bottom line improvement. Also the parameters

are monitored on a monthly basis until the set target is reached

2.3.6 As-is Assessment

Service & Maturity assessment is performed to create Intervention Plan (IP) document.

IP gets created to identify the gaps in the process/service offered and also continuous service

improvement (CSI) & transformation themes are created from this.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

2.3.7 CSI/Transformation Kick-Off

CSI – Helps to improve the day to day service delivery operations. Here the focus is on

improving the service effectiveness, efficiency and optimizing cost.

Transformation is a process of thoughtful and radical change that orients an organization in a

new direction and takes it to an entirely different level of effectiveness (non-linear changes).

Whereas CSI is incremental improvement to business processes, transformations are of larger

magnitude. Transformations are carried out in a planned manner after getting buy in from

relevant stakeholders. Typically CSI and Transformations focus on Automation at work,

Outcome based service layers, Vendor agnostic service improvements, Self-optimizing process

models and Portfolio improvements.

2.3.8 Customer Messaging

It includes Value proposition articulation to Customer, as appropriate and demonstration of

our delivery model & value adds/cost benefit to the engagements.

The Overall On-Boarding Plan is depicted in the following diagram:

Fig 7: Overall AVM SBU On-Boarding Plan

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

2.4 AVM SBU Implementation Track

The main aim of AVM SBU Implementation track is to “Put in Action” all the findings, constructs,

best practices etc. evolved from AVM CoE into the delivery. It Comprises of AVM SBU Heads and

AVM SBU Champions.

The AVM SBU Heads act as a single point of contact for Account Managers, Sales Team, Client

Partners and Delivery Managers. The AVM SBU Champions act as a single point of contact for AVM

SBU Heads who will channelize requests to respective tracks within AVM CoE.

The primary focus of the AVM SBU Champions is to drive AVM Deals across the verticals as Solution

Architects. Typically, they work with the Vertical BD teams, and are responsible for translating the

requirements created by functional analysts into the architecture for AVM solutions and describing

it through the set of architecture and design artifacts. They are also responsible for SBU enablement

on the dimensions of On-boarding, Industrialization of AVM through OneMPS and OneMAS

constructs, Increase the Market share of AVM etc.

3. Our focus areas in Application Management Services

Our Application Value Management services are designed to provide day-to-day operations,

support, and maintenance of enterprise applications. Application Management Services include but

are not limited to end-user support, monitoring, proactive problem avoidance, issue resolution,

service restoration, and root cause analysis. Patching, application enhancements, and operational

responsibility for application performance and uptime are often core services.

The two major focus areas in AVM are

 Managed Production Services (MPS) which consists of L1, L2 and most of L3 activities

 Managed Application Services (MAS) which consists of L4 and some part of L3 activities

Fig 8: Two major focus areas in AVM

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

 Managed Production Services  They are categorized into Operational (L1 support) services

and Specialist Services (L2 and L3 support). These services are designed to provide support and

maintenance to applications for the day-to-day operations. Some of the services here include

i) Application Monitoring

ii) Batch Monitoring

iii) Batch Scheduling / Execution

iv) Mailbox & Ticketing Tool Monitoring

v) End Of Term Services

vi) Application Continuity & Resiliency Support

 Managed Application Services  It covers the core application/technology related services

comprising of enhancement services (minor & medium), assessment services and

transformation services. All of these services are L3, L4 support or transformational in nature.

Some of the services here include

i) Functional Enhancements

ii) Application Integration Services

iii) Regulatory & Compliance Services

iv) Application Strengthening

v) Application Tuning and Optimization

vi) Application Consolidation

vii) Application Decommission

viii) Application Reengineering and Modernization

Apart from MPS and MAS services, we also have the following services offered in the AVM

Space.

 Governance Services  It focuses on service governance aspects. Some of the services here

include

i) Service Level Management

ii) Service Management Integration

iii) Change Advisory Board Governance

iv) Release Control Board Governance

v) Demand Management

 Security Services  These services focus on reactive and proactive security management.

Some of the services here include

i) Application Access Management

ii) Application Security Assessment

iii) Application Security Hardening

 Professional Services  Some of the services here include

i) Project Management

ii) Program Management

iii) Project Support

iv) Training Services

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

 Product Value Management (PVM)  The service here covers the entire product lifecycle

(from maintaining a product, its upgrades, integration, migration, testing and consultation).

4. AVM Industrialization

Our vision is to industrialize AVM Services across Cognizant. Our Principle of Industrialization is

“Componentize + Standardize”.

This involves segregating different groups in a particular Layer and bringing in standardization in

each of these components.

The current industrialization of MPS and MAS is done by the adoption of One MPS and One MAS

models. The figure below shows the comparison between the traditional model and our Current

Industrialized model (Factory model).

Fig 9: AVM Industrialization (Before and After)

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

One MPS

One MPS brings about industrialization of Managed Production Services by means of

Componentizing MPS into ISmO and RTB and standardizing the services delivered.

ISmO (Integrated Smart Operations) / L1 Utility is an Integrated Service Desk and Operations center

for applications and infrastructure. This team will be responsible for providing an integrated view of

infrastructure and application mapping which in turn helps in avoiding longer outages. The unified

Application and Infrastructure Service Desk function will serve as

 “Single” user interface to handle both application and infrastructure issues

 Single point of ownership for all incidents and requests irrespective of the service chain it flows

through

 The focus will be to ensure systems and applications are monitored for availability and

performance through a common set of processes based on ITIL framework

 Provide reactive and proactive services (e.g. Incident and Event management) by establishing an

integrated collaborative platform for the Level 1 layer

In summary, some of the benefits of setting up an Integrated L1 Utility Layer on account of deriving

Application and infrastructure synergies are as follows:

• Demand Reduction and Improved Responsiveness

• Faster Issue identification and resolution of system related issues

• Proactive Prioritization of support responses, RCA and remediation activities

Fig 10: Industrialization of MPS (One MPS)

The ISmO will be delivered by the CIS team and the rest of the services in MPS which falls under RTB

will be delivered by AVM SBU.

One MAS

One MAS brings about industrialization of Managed Application Services by means of

Componentization and Standardization of Application Enhancement process through demarcation of

Requirements Elucidation, Build and Testing. This is achieved by means of three pillars namely

Integrated Smart Requirements, Build factory and Integrated Smart Testing that constitute ‘Change

the business’ (CTB).

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

 Integrated Smart Requirement or ISmR Team will focus on requirement elicitation and will act

as a bridge between Customer and the Application Enhancement team. ISmR team specializes in

functional aspects of the delivery organization with focus on Delivery Excellence, Solution

Development and Knowledge Asset Management.

 Build factory will take input from ISmR with the intent to bring domain focus required for

enhancements and at the same time operate efficiently through needed technology specific

specialization

 Integrated Smart Testing or ISmT will bring a ‘Test factory’ approach through the involvement of

expert QA testers to ensure that required changes are verified and validated, before they are

pushed into production. The testing will be performed by the QE & A team.

Fig 11: Industrialization of MAS (One MAS)

5. Levels of Engagement

The Cognizant Engagement Maturity model helps to baseline existing and newer engagements of

Cognizant into 4 levels of maturity. Cognizant has home grown capabilities to evaluate the levels of

maturity of an engagement and enables them to progress from one level of maturity to another.

The Cognizant Engagement Maturity model is the primary basis for all of our frameworks, and the

frameworks in turn help in accelerating this journey to higher maturity levels.

Rate Card

Strategic

Service Based

Managed Services

Business Outcomes

Task Based

Business

Models

Service Levels

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Fig 12: Levels of Engagement

Task based delivery model (also called staff augmentation model)  In this type of engagement,

there are no SLAs or process documentation involved. At this maturity level, MSP’s generally

provides resources, who carry out day-today activities defined by the customer.

Service based delivery model  In this type of engagement, set of activities are identified and

bundled as services, with SLAs in place that focuses primarily on vendor performance. The ownership

on service delivery is also introduced to a certain extent, with primary ITIL processes in place along

with a good level of project ownership (eg. resource revenue reporting).

Managed Services model  This is one of the most commonly used term in the industry with

without any clear definition. Within Cognizant, we have clear demarcation and protocols on what

defines this particular level.

“Managed Services is defining a set of cataloged services and managing them with clearly stated

outcomes”

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

The Key tenets of Managed Services are shown in the following diagram.

Fig 13: Key Tenets of Managed Services

In this type of engagement, the focus is on Service Tiers (L1/L2/L3/L4) or Service Horizontals. Here

the roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and the service provider is responsible for delivering

the IT Output based on SLA’s. The key aspect of this level focuses helps to integrate seamlessly with

multiple service lines and other suppliers/vendors.

The characteristics of measurement system at this level transcend from Vendor performance based

metrics to Service and IT Outcome based metrics. The governance functions in the form of SMO and

TO will be established to ensure Service Excellence and Continual Transformation within Service

Delivery.

Business Outcome based delivery model  The most important goal of any organization is to

ensure that it delivers outcomes that matter to business. In this type of engagement, IT Outcomes

to Business Benefits and Business Outcomes are orchestrated. The Operating model of this

engagement is given below:

Input: They refer to the effort / resources put in to give

the desired Outputs.

Output: They refer to the work undertaken to realize the

desired Outcomes.

Outcomes: They refer to the Business outcomes as a

result of Output.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

6. Different Levels of Support (L1/L2/L3/L4) in Application Management

Support

Level

Description

Detailed Information

• Forms the initial support level

responsible for basic customer

issues.

• Will consist of Application &

Infrastructure Service Desk along

with the Monitoring function.

• L1 group typically handles

straightforward and simple issues

possibly using a knowledge

management tool.

• Detect, Record, Monitor, Escalate ticket and /or alerts

to L2 and L3 Levels

• Provide voice call support

• Monitor mailboxes and / or ticketing tool, create

tickets as necessary and assign them to relevant support

groups, categorize and prioritize tickets as per the defined

process guidelines

• Provide scripted solutions (solutions that are available

in knowledge management data base)

• Monitor batch execution and report status periodically;

create tickets when there are exceptions

• Handle routine documented health checks on

applications

• Handle end client communication

• Trigger problem management through periodic trend

analysis

• L2 is a more in-depth technical

support level than L1 and more

experienced and knowledgeable

on a particular product or

service.

• L2 are responsible for assisting

L1 personnel in solving basic

technical problems and for

investigating elevated issues by

confirming the validity of the

problem and seeking for known

solutions related to these more

complex issues.

• Troubleshoot tickets that have been escalated from

level 1 team

• Perform ticket related diagnostics and restore services

through fixes that do not involve code change i.e., provide

workarounds. If code change is required in exceptional

condition, level 2 must act as level 3.

• Escalate to Level 3 team for complex requests and

incidents

• Escalate to Level 3 team for incidents requiring a code

change

• Trigger problem management through periodic trend

analysis and for incidents where there is no workaround

possible

• Perform Root Cause Analysis for simple problems

• Enrich KEDB / KB to enable “Shift Left”

• Handling adhoc or non-standard service requests

• Support during change impact analysis

• Schedule and manage manual/ad-hoc batch jobs

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

• Highest level of support in a

three-tiered technical support

model responsible for handling

the most difficult or advanced

problems.

• Possess specialist technical

skills to support the application

environment, and are

responsible for not only assisting

both L1 and L2 personnel, but

with the research and

development of solutions to new

or unknown issues.

• Resolve incidents and requests that have been

escalated from Level 2

• Handle complex queries / incidents

• Provide solutions to incidents involving code change

cycle / complex configuration changes

• Handle business change request capped to certain

number of hours

• Scripting batch jobs and handling unknown exceptions

on batch jobs

• Provide UAT support for incidents fixed at Level 3 and

business change implemented

• Handle standard testing requests

• Perform RCA and provide permanent solutions for

problems

• Enrich KEDB / KB to enable “Shift Left"

• L4 support is more often

referred as application

development which follows any

of the standard SDLC models

• Handle small development, enhancement projects in

line with SDLC process defined

• Management of quarterly or yearly release cycles

• Provide UAT Support for development and

enhancement projects

• Provide warranty support

• Provide knowledge transition to L1/L2/L3 teams

• Provide remediation support for adaptive maintenance

7. ITIL Demystified

ITIL stands for the Information Technology Infrastructure Library. ITIL is a framework of best

practices to manage IT operations and services defined in the mid-1980s by the Government of

Commerce, UK. ITIL’s main objective is to align business and Information Technology, allowing

organizations to implement what is relevant to their business. ITIL is just a documented common

sense from years of learning from people around the world.

The set of topics and concepts, which are best practice for ITSM, are condensed into 5 books

1. Service Strategy – It focuses on understanding customer needs, directions, requirements,

helping improve IT over time

2. Service Design – It focuses on turning strategies for services into a detailed Service

description, not just the technology.

3. Service Transition – It focuses on building, validating, and delivering new and changed

services to customers

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

4. Service Operations – It focuses on the day-to-day care and feeding of services

5. Continual Service Improvement – It focuses on identifying and managing incremental

improvements to services

We are sometimes confused by the use of ITIL and IT Service Management (ITSM) interchangeably.

ITSM is a generic phrase describing the field of Service Management as applied to providing IT

Services. ITIL, on the other hand, is a specific framework of guidance that is owned and managed

by Axelos.

ITSM can be implemented in many ways, including the adoption of ITIL. Many organizations adopt

ITIL in addition to other complimentary frameworks like COBIT, USMBOK, Lean/Six Sigma, LeanIT,

DevOps and PRINCE2.

Here is what you really need to know

Quick Facts

ITIL is not a standard

Consider it a good advice from IT Managers who have been there. It

is up to you to take it or leave it. You can follow ITIL the way it works

best for you.

ITIL is for small, medium

and large companies

It’s true! Anyone can implement ITIL. However, it makes sense when

the size of your helpdesk team is more than 5.

ITIL is not from a single

company or a person

ITIL is not backed by a single company or a person. There is no profit

motive or personal promotion.

Service and Service Management:

A Service is a means of delivering value to customers, by facilitating outcomes that customers want

to achieve, without the ownership of specific costs and risks.

Services consist of the 4 P’s: People, Process, Product (Technology), and Partners (Vendors).

Service Management is a set of specialized organizational capabilities for providing value to

customers in the form of Services. Organizations must consider both their Resources and

Capabilities when managing their Services.

Resources are the things an organization has, such as money, infrastructure, people, information

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

and applications.

Capabilities are the things an organization can do, such as management, organization, process,

knowledge and people (people have certain capabilities).

Resources and Capabilities come together to create value for the customer, but only when balanced

in the right proportions.

For instance, if you are staffing a Service Desk, the determination can be made that 10 Service Desk

agents is an adequate number of resources based on the number of customers being supported.

However, if only 3 of the 10 agents have the capability to handle an Incident from initiation through

to closure, then we do not have enough capability as an organization. Therefore the organization is

not providing value to the customer. An ineffective and inefficient Service Desk will lead to

unsatisfied customers, and the organization will suffer because it will not win repeat business.

Quite often, an organization will take an overly reactive approach to remedy this situation. This can

lead to the mistake of “throwing more resources” at the problem. In our example, this would be the

hiring of 10 more Service Desk agents. This will not resolve the problem, and actually has the effect

of making things worse. The organization goes from 7 incapable Service Desk agents, to 17 incapable

Service Desk agents and we still only have 3 capable agents.

Events and Incidents:

ITIL defines an Event as any detectable or discernible occurrence that has significance for the

management of the IT infrastructure or the delivery of IT service. There are 3 types of Events:

•

Events that signify Normal Operation (Informational)

•

Events that signify Unusual Operation (Warnings)

•

Events that signify Exceptional Operations (Incidents)

An Incident is any event that causes (or may cause) a disruption to, or degradation of a service.

The common confusion is the belief that every Event is an Incident. Most Events are not Incidents,

they are informational. However, all Incidents are Events, but these Events actually disrupt service.

Incident Management:

The goal of Incident Management is to restore IT services to the normal state as soon as possible

with workarounds or solutions to make sure that it does not affect business.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

An incident is an event that is not part of the standard operation; it is an event that you don’t want

to happen, however it eventually happens. In simple words, Incident Management is a process to

manage disruptions in critical IT services and restore them ASAP.

Fig 14: Incident Management

Problem Management:

ITIL defines a Problem as the unknown, underlying root cause of one or more Incidents.

The goal of

Problem Management is to find the root cause of incidents and reduce the impact on business.

Problem Management is a proactive approach that prevents recurrence of incidents.

Problem management brings strategy to your helpdesk; it helps you move from your firefighting

mode to a proactive mode. In simple words, the disruptions faced by users are mostly different

instances of a problem. When you find and eliminate the root cause of all the Incidents, you also

prevent future incidents.

Fig 15: Problem Management

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Service Request and Change Management:

ITIL defines a Service Request as a request for a change to be made to a service that is usually well

understood, common, has standard procedures, pre-approved, and low risk. A Standard Change is

also defined as a request for a change to be made to a service that is usually well understood,

common, has standard procedures, pre-approved, and low risk.

Fig 16: Service Request

The common confusion is in understanding the difference between a Service Request and a

Standard Change and which processes we use to manage them.

Fig 17: Change Management

Service Requests are usually initiated by the user and handled through the Request Fulfillment

Process. Standard Changes are usually operational in nature, and are managed through the Change

Management Process.

The change management process helps you co-ordinate changes with minimal disruptions and

accepted risk.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Configuration Item (CI) and Configuration Management Database (CMDB):

ITIL defines a Configuration Item (CI) as any component that needs to be managed in order to

deliver an IT Service.

The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) holds records for CI’s that are important to the

business and impacts a business service. The remaining items should be managed in the Asset

Inventory.

The ones that are covered are the basics and a very high level view of some of the processes in ITIL.

To get a solid understanding of all the processes, ITIL Training and Certification is recommended.

How to get certified in ITIL?

If you're interested in pursuing the ITIL certification, there are a few things you should know.

The Basics ITIL v3 has five different certification levels:

 ITIL Foundation

 ITIL Intermediate Level

 ITIL Managing Across the Lifecycle

 ITIL Expert Level

 ITIL Master Qualification

The most popular of these is the ITIL Foundation certification, which is the first step to all further

ITIL certifications. While a foundation-level certification is usually enough, those who are looking for

higher and managerial positions would do well to get both an intermediate-level and expert-level

certification.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Fig 18: Levels of Certification in ITIL

The ITIL Expert in IT Service Management certification is finally obtained by accumulating credits via

the earlier levels. The Master level may be achieved through five years of on-the-job experience in

leadership, managerial or higher management roles.

Clearly, studying for all levels at once is impossible. Keep it simple by preparing yourself for the

examination that you are taking. ITIL generally involves intensive study and tough exams as well as

work experience, so if you're looking to take the higher levels of ITIL, it's best to approach them one

by one.

8. Mandatory Boot Camp and Trainings

As a part of the AVM SBU Enablement initiative, all associates have to undergo trainings and

Knowledge assessments on AVM SBU constructs during the on boarding process. The Academy team

will conduct boot camp for Associates and the same will be communicated through the Learning

Calendar. The Calendar would include an eLearning Course on the Foundations of ITIL, Orientation

to Managed Services, C2.0, Service Management, CSI and AVM Tools.

The course completion status report will also be published on a weekly basis. Please reach-out to

AVMAcademy@Cognizant.com for any questions/clarifications.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

9. Key Portals in AVM and Referral

9.1 Key Portals in AVM

9.2 Referral

Cognizant a great place to work! We welcome the referral of your friends and ex-colleagues to our

team and the best part of which is “it pays you to have them referred.”

For more details on referral schemes, visit

https://onecognizant.cognizant.com > Global Referral

Portal Name

Links

OneAVM

https://oneavm.cognizant.com

Estimation Portal

https://avmestimation.cognizant.com

AVM DART

https://avmdart.cognizant.com

KT Portal

https://knowledgetransition.cognizant.com

CSI Portal

https://avmcsitransformation.cognizant.com

On Boarding Portal

https://avmsbuonboarding.cognizant.com/

AVM SBU Dashboard

https://avmsbuonboarding.cognizant.com/

SoW Portal

https://managedservicesow.cognizant.com

BIC Portal

https://bic.cognizant.com/

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Appendix

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

ITIL Glossary – Commonly used terms

Terms

Short Description

Acceptance

Formal agreement that an IT service, process, plan or other deliverable

is complete, accurate, reliable and meets its specified requirements.

Acceptance is usually preceded by change evaluation or testing and is

often required before proceeding to the next stage of a project or

process.

Access Management

The process responsible for allowing users to make use of IT services,

data or other assets. Access management helps to protect the

confidentiality, integrity and availability of assets by ensuring that only

authorized users are able to access or modify them. Access

management implements the policies of information security

management and is sometimes referred to as rights management or

identity management.

(Account Manager)

A role that is very similar to that of the business relationship manager,

but includes more commercial aspects.

Accounting

The process responsible for identifying the actual costs of delivering IT

services, comparing these with budgeted costs, and managing variance

from the budget.

Accredited

Officially authorized to carry out a role. For example, an accredited body

may be authorized to provide training or to conduct audits.

AST

(Agreed Service Time)

A synonym for service hours, commonly used in formal calculations of

availability.

ASP

(Application Service Provider)

An external service provider that provides IT services using

applications running at the service provider’s premises.

Application Sizing

The activity responsible for understanding the resource requirements

needed to support a new application, or a major change to an existing

application. Application sizing helps to ensure that the IT service can

meet its agreed service level targets for capacity and performance.

Asset Management

A generic activity or process responsible for tracking and reporting the

value and ownership of assets throughout their lifecycle.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Terms

Short Description

Balanced Scorecard

A management tool developed by Robert Kaplan (Harvard Business

School) and David Norton. A balanced scorecard enables a strategy to

be broken down into key performance indicators. Performance against

the KPIs is used to demonstrate how well the strategy is being

achieved.

BCM

(Business Continuity Management)

The business process responsible for managing risks that could

seriously affect the business. Business continuity management

safeguards the interests of key stakeholders, reputation, brand and

value-creating activities. The process involves reducing risks to an

acceptable level and planning for the recovery of business processes

should a disruption to the business occur. Business continuity

management sets the objectives, scope and requirements for IT

service continuity management.

BCP

(Business Continuity Plan)

A plan defining the steps required to restore business processes

following a disruption. The plan also identifies the triggers for

invocation, people to be involved, communications etc. IT service

continuity plans form a significant part of business continuity plans.

Benchmark

The recorded state of something at a specific point in time. A

benchmark can be created for a configuration, a Process or any other

set of data. E.g. Can be used in Continual Service Improvement to

establish the current state for managing improvements.

(Business Unit)

A segment of the business that has its own plans, metrics, income and

costs. Each business unit owns assets and uses these to create value

for customers in the form of goods and services.

Business Objective

The objective of a Business Process, or of the Business as a whole.

Business Objectives support the Business Vision, provide guidance for

the IT Strategy and are often supported by IT services.

Capacity Management

The process responsible for ensuring that the capacity of IT services

and the IT infrastructure is able to meet agreed capacity- and

performance-related requirements in a cost-effective and timely

manner. Capacity management considers all resources required to

deliver an IT service, and is concerned with meeting both the current

and future capacity and performance needs of the business.

CAB

(Change Advisory Board)

A group of people that support the assessment, prioritization,

authorization and scheduling of changes. A change advisory board is

usually made up of representatives from: all areas within the IT service

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Terms

Short Description

provider; the business; and third parties such as suppliers.

Change Management

The process responsible for controlling the lifecycle of all changes,

enabling beneficial changes to be made with minimum disruption to IT

services.

COTS

(Commercial Off The Shelf)

Pre-existing application software or middleware that can be purchased

from a third party.

(Configuration Item)

Any component or other service asset that needs to be managed in

order to deliver an IT service. Information about each configuration

item is recorded in a configuration record within the configuration

management system and is maintained throughout its lifecycle by

service asset and configuration management.

CSF

(Critical Success Factor)

Something that must happen if an IT service, process, plan, project or

other activity is to succeed. Key performance indicators are used to

measure the achievement of each critical success factor. For example,

a critical success factor of ‘protect IT services when making changes’

could be measured by key performance indicators such as ‘percentage

reduction of unsuccessful changes’, ‘percentage reduction in changes

causing incidents’ etc.

Demand Management

The process responsible for understanding, anticipating and influencing

customer demand for services.

Deming Cycle

Plan-Do-Check-Act.

Downtime

The time when an IT service or other configuration item is not

available during its agreed service time. The availability of an IT

service is often calculated from agreed service time and downtime.

Economies of Scale

The reduction in average cost that is possible from increasing

the usage of an IT service or asset.

Efficiency

A measure of whether the right amount of resource has been used to

deliver a process, service or activity.

ECAB

(Emergency Change Advisory Board)

A subgroup of the change advisory board that makes decisions about

emergency changes. Membership may be decided at the time a

meeting is called, and depends on the nature of the emergency

change.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Terms

Short Description

Estimation

The use of experience to provide an approximate value for a metric or

cost. Estimation is also used in capacity and availability management as

the cheapest and least accurate modelling method.

Event

A change of state that has significance for the management of an IT

service or other configuration item.

Follow the sun

A methodology for using service desks and support groups around the

world to provide seamless 24/7 service.

Gap analysis

An activity that compares two sets of data and identifies the

differences. Gap analysis is commonly used to compare a set of

requirements with actual delivery.

Incident

An unplanned interruption to an IT service or reduction in the quality

of an IT service. Failure of a configuration item that has not yet

affected service is also an incident.

Incident Management

The process responsible for managing the lifecycle of all incidents.

Incident management ensures that normal service operation is

restored as quickly as possible and the business impact is minimized.

ISM

(Information Security Management)

The process responsible for ensuring that the confidentiality, integrity

and availability of an organization’s assets, information, data and IT

services match the agreed needs of the business.

ISMS

(Information Security Management

System)

The framework of policy, processes, functions, standards, guidelines

and tools that ensures an organization can achieve its information

security management objectives.

Internal Customer

A customer who works for the same business as the IT service

provider.

ISP

(Internet Service Provider)

An external service provider that provides access to the internet. Most

ISPs also provide other IT services such as web hosting.

ITSCM

(IT Service Continuity Management)

The process responsible for managing risks that could seriously affect

IT services. IT service continuity management ensures that the IT

service provider can always provide minimum agreed service levels, by

reducing the risk to an acceptable level and planning for the recovery

of IT services. IT service continuity management supports business

continuity management.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Terms

Short Description

ITSM

(IT Service Management)

The implementation and management of quality IT services that meet

the needs of the business.

ITIL

A set of best-practice publications for IT service management. Owned

by the Cabinet Office (part of HM Government), ITIL gives guidance on

the provision of quality IT services and the processes, functions and

other capabilities needed to support them. The ITIL framework is based

on a service lifecycle and consists of five lifecycle stages (service

strategy, service design, service transition, service operation and

continual service improvement).

Job scheduling

Planning and managing the execution of software tasks that are

required as part of an IT service.

KPI

(Key Performance Indicator)

A metric that is used to help manage an IT service, process, plan,

project or other activity. Key performance indicators are used to

measure the achievement of critical success factors.

Known Error

A problem that has a documented root cause and a workaround.

KEDB

(Known Error DataBase)

A database containing all known error records. This database is

created by problem management and used by incident and problem

management.

LOS

(Line Of Service)

A core service or service package that has multiple service options.

Major Incident

The highest category of impact for an incident. A major incident

results in significant disruption to the business.

MIS

(Management Information System)

A set of tools, data and information that is used to support a process or

function. Examples include the availability management information

system and the supplier and contract management information system.

Maturity

A measure of the reliability, efficiency and effectiveness of a process,

function, organization etc. The most mature processes and functions

are formally aligned to business objectives and strategy, and are

supported by a framework for continual improvement.

MTBF

(Mean Time Between Failures)

A metric for measuring and reporting reliability. MTBF is the average

time that an IT service or other configuration item can perform its

agreed function without interruption.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Terms

Short Description

MTTR

(Mean Time To Repair)

The average time taken to repair an IT service or other configuration

item after a failure. MTTR is measured from when the configuration

item fails until it is repaired.

MTRS

(Mean Time to Restore Service)

The average time taken to restore an IT service or other configuration

item after a failure. MTRS is measured from when the configuration

item fails until it is fully restored and delivering its normal

functionality.

Offshore

Provision of services from a location outside the country where the

customer is based, often in a different continent. This can be the

provision of an IT service, or of supporting functions such as a service

desk.

Onshore

Provision of services from a location within the country where the

customer is based.

Operational cost

The cost resulting from running the IT services, which often involves

repeating payments – for example, staff costs, hardware maintenance

and electricity (also known as current expenditure or revenue

expenditure).

OLA

(Operational Level Agreement)

An agreement between an IT service provider and another part of the

same organization. It supports the IT service provider’s delivery of IT

services to customers and defines the goods or services to be provided

and the responsibilities of both parties.

Opportunity Cost

A cost that is used in deciding between investment choices.

Opportunity cost represents the revenue that would have been

generated by using the resources in a different way. For example, the

opportunity cost of purchasing a new server may include not carrying

out a service improvement activity that the money could have been

spent on.

Optimize

Review, plan and request changes, in order to obtain the maximum

efficiency and effectiveness from a process, configuration item,

application etc.

Outcome

The result of carrying out an activity, following a process, or delivering

an IT service etc.

Outsourcing

Using an external service provider to manage IT services.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Terms

Short Description

Pareto principle

A technique used to prioritize activities. The Pareto principle says that

80% of the value of any activity is created with 20% of the effort.

Pareto analysis is also used in problem management to prioritize

possible problem causes for investigation.

Performance

A measure of what is achieved or delivered by a system, person, team,

process or IT service.

PDCA

(Plan-Do-Check-Act)

A four- stage cycle for process management, attributed to Edward

Deming. Plan-Do- Check-Act is also called the Deming Cycle.

Plan – design or revise processes that support the IT services;

Do – implement the plan and manage the processes;

Check – measure the processes and IT services, compare with objectives

and produce reports;

Act – plan and implement changes to improve the processes.

Planned downtime

Agreed time when an IT service will not be available. Planned downtime

is often used for maintenance, upgrades and testing.

Policy

Formally documented management expectations and intentions.

Policies are used to direct decisions, and to ensure consistent and

appropriate development and implementation of processes, standards,

roles, activities, IT infrastructure etc.

Priority

A category used to identify the relative importance of an incident,

problem or change. Priority is based on impact and urgency, and is

used to identify required times for actions to be taken.

Proactive monitoring

Monitoring that looks for patterns of events to predict possible future

failures.

Proactive problem management

Part of the problem management process. The objective of proactive

problem management is to identify problems that might otherwise be

missed. Proactive problem management analyses incident records, and

uses data collected by other IT service management processes to

identify trends or significant problems.

Problem management

The process responsible for managing the lifecycle of all problems.

Problem management proactively prevents incidents from happening

and minimizes the impact of incidents that cannot be prevented.

Process

A structured set of activities designed to accomplish a specific

objective. A process takes one or more defined inputs and turns them

into defined outputs.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Terms

Short Description

Project

A temporary organization, with people and other assets, that is

required to achieve an objective or other outcome. Each project has a

lifecycle that typically includes initiation, planning, execution, and

closure. Projects are usually managed using a formal methodology

such as PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2) or the Project

Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).

PMBOK

(Project Management Body Of

Knowledge)

A project management standard maintained and published by the

Project Management Institute.

PMO

(Project Management Office)

A function or group responsible for managing the lifecycle of projects.

PRINCE2

(PRojects IN Controlled

Environments)

The standard UK government methodology for project management.

(Quality Assurance)

The process responsible for ensuring that the quality of a service,

process or other service asset will provide its intended value.

RACI

A model used to help define roles and responsibilities. RACI stands for

Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed.

RPO

(Recovery Point Objective)

The maximum amount of data that may be lost when service is

restored after an interruption.

RTO

(Recovery Time Objective)

The maximum time allowed for the recovery of an IT service following

an interruption.

Redundancy

Use of one or more additional configuration items to provide fault

tolerance.

Release

One or more changes to an IT service that are built, tested and

deployed together. A single release may include changes to hardware,

software, documentation, processes and other components.

Release and Deployment

management

The process responsible for planning, scheduling and controlling the

build, test and deployment of releases, and for delivering new

functionality required by the business while protecting the integrity of

existing services.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Terms

Short Description

Reliability

A measure of how long an IT service or other configuration item can

perform its agreed function without interruption.

RFC

(Request For Change)

A formal proposal for a change to be made. It includes details of the

proposed change, and may be recorded on paper or electronically. The

term is often misused to mean a change record, or the change itself.

Request fulfilment

The process responsible for managing the lifecycle of all service

requests.

Resolution

Action taken to repair the root cause of an incident or problem, or to

implement a workaround.

Response time

A measure of the time taken to complete an operation or transaction.

Used in capacity management as a measure of IT infrastructure

performance, and in incident management as a measure of the time

taken to answer the phone, or to start diagnosis.

Restore

Taking action to return an IT service to the users after repair and

recovery from an incident. This is the primary objective of incident

management.

Retire

Permanent removal of an IT service, or other configuration item, from

the live environment.

ROI

(Return On Investment)

A measurement of the expected benefit of an investment. In the

simplest sense, it is the net profit of an investment divided by the net

worth of the assets invested.

Rights

Entitlements, or permissions, granted to a user or role.

Risk

A possible event that could cause harm or loss, or affect the ability to

achieve objectives. A risk is measured by the probability of a threat,

the vulnerability of the asset to that threat, and the impact it would

have if it occurred.

Risk assessment

The initial steps of risk management:

Analyzing the value of assets to the business,

Identifying threats to those assets, and

Evaluating how vulnerable each asset is to those threats.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Terms

Short Description

Risk assessment can be quantitative (based on numerical data) or

qualitative.

Role

A set of responsibilities, activities and authorities assigned to a person

or team. A role is defined in a process or function.

Root cause

The underlying or original cause of an incident or problem.

RCA

(Root Cause Analysis)

An activity that identifies the root cause of an incident or problem. Root

cause analysis typically concentrates on IT infrastructure failures.

Scope

The boundary or extent to which a process, procedure, certification,

contract etc. applies.

Second-line support

The second level in a hierarchy of support groups involved in the

resolution of incidents and investigation of problems. Each level

contains more specialist skills, or has more time or other resources.

Service

A means of delivering value to customers by facilitating outcomes

customers want to achieve without the ownership of specific costs

and risks.

Service asset

Any resource or capability of a service provider.

SACM

(Service Asset and Configuration

Management)

The process responsible for ensuring that the assets required to

deliver services are properly controlled, and that accurate and reliable

information about those assets is available when and where it is

needed.

Service catalogue

A database or structured document with information about all live IT

services, including those available for deployment.

Service contract

A contract to deliver one or more IT services. The term is also used to

mean any agreement to deliver IT services, whether this is a legal

contract or a service level agreement.

SDP

(Service Design Package)

Document(s) defining all aspects of an IT service and its requirements

through each stage of its lifecycle. A service design package is

produced for each new IT service, major change or IT service

retirement.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Terms

Short Description

Service desk

The single point of contact between the service provider and the users.

A typical service desk manages incidents and service requests, and also

handles communication with the users.

SIP

(Service Improvement Plan)

A formal plan to implement improvements to a process or IT service.

SKMS

(Service Knowledge Management

System)

A set of tools and databases that is used to manage knowledge,

information and data. The service knowledge management system

includes the configuration management system, as well as other

databases and information systems. The service knowledge

management system includes tools for collecting, storing, managing,

updating, analysing and presenting all the knowledge, information

and data that an IT service provider will need to manage the full

lifecycle of IT services.

Service level

Measured and reported achievement against one or more service

level targets.

SLA

(Service Level Agreement)

An agreement between an IT service provider and a customer. A

service level agreement describes the IT service, documents service

level targets, and specifies the responsibilities of the IT service

provider and the customer.

Service Management

A set of specialized organizational capabilities for providing value to

customers in the form of services.

Service reporting

Activities that produce and deliver reports of achievement and trends

against service levels. The format, content and frequency of reports

should be agreed with customers.

Service request

A formal request from a user for something to be provided – for

example, a request for information or advice; to reset a password; or

to install a workstation for a new user.

Service validation and testing

The process responsible for validation and testing of a new or changed

IT service. Service validation and testing ensures that the IT service

matches its design specification and will meet the needs of the

business.

SPOF

(Single Point Of Failure)

Any configuration item that can cause an incident when it fails, and for

which a countermeasure has not been implemented. A single point of

failure may be a person or a step in a process or activity, as well as a

component of the IT infrastructure.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Terms

Short Description

SMART

An acronym for helping to remember that targets in service level

agreements and project plans should be Specific, Measurable,

Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.

Stakeholder

A person who has an interest in an organization, project, IT service etc.

Stakeholders may be interested in the activities, targets, resources or

deliverables.

Super user

A user who helps other users, and assists in communication with the

service desk or other parts of the IT service provider. Super users are

often experts in the business processes supported by an IT service and

will provide support for minor incidents and training.

SWOT analysis

(Strengths, Weaknesses,

Opportunities and Threats.)

A technique that reviews and analyses the internal strengths and

weaknesses of an organization and the external opportunities and

threats that it faces.

Third party

A person, organization or other entity that is not part of the service

provider’s own organization and is not a customer.

Threshold

The value of a metric that should cause an alert to be generated or

management action to be taken.

Throughput

A measure of the number of transactions or other operations

performed in a fixed time – for example, 5,000 e-mails sent per hour,

or 200 disk I/Os per second.

TCO

(Total Cost of Ownership)

A methodology used to help make investment decisions. It assesses the

full lifecycle cost of owning a configuration item, not just the initial cost

or purchase price.

TQM

(Total Quality Management)

A methodology for managing continual improvement by using a

quality management system. Total quality management establishes a

culture involving all people in the organization in a process of

continual monitoring and improvement.

Transition

A change in state, corresponding to a movement of an IT service or

other configuration item from one lifecycle status to the next.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

Terms

Short Description

Trend analysis

Analysis of data to identify time-related patterns. Trend analysis is

used in problem management to identify common failures or fragile

configuration items, and in capacity management as a modelling tool

to predict future behavior. It is also used as a management tool for

identifying deficiencies in IT service management processes.

Vulnerability

A weakness that could be exploited by a threat – for example, an open

firewall port, a password that is never changed, or a flammable carpet.

A missing control is also considered to be vulnerability.

WIP

(Work In Progress)

A status that means activities have started but are not yet complete. It

is commonly used as a status for incidents, problems, changes etc.

AVM SBU – Induction Manual

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