ITIL overview

Service Desk

Service Desk is not a process but a function. The Service Desk’s objective is to provide a single point of contact between users and the IT service organization. ITIL provides guidance about creating and operating a Service Desk to provide efficient communication between the user community and the IT provider.  The job of the Service Desk is to provide effective Incident, Problem, Change, and Configuration management.

Incident Management

The Incident Management process aims to restore normal service operation as quickly as possible and minimize the adverse impact on business operations. This ensures that the best possible levels of service quality and availability are maintained.  Translation: The Level 1 team handles these issues because they can be closed quickly and do not affect many customers.

Problem Management

The process of Problem Management diagnoses the underlying cause of the incidents identified by the Service Desk. It arranges for correcting errors in the IT infrastructure and performs proactive problem prevention.  Translation:  These are incidents that Level 1 support cannot handle or may be affecting many customers.  (Generally referred to as Problems before the cause is known, and Known Errors once the cause is determined.)  These would be Global Issues in FootPrints.

Change Management

The Change Management process ensures that standardized methods and procedures are used for efficient and prompt handling of all changes to minimize the impact of change related incidents on service quality. Consequently, change management aims to improve the day-to-day operation of the organization.  Translation: All IT-related changes that may affect one or many customers are tracked with Change Management.  Adding memory to one machine, getting a new server, and installing the latest Windows OS on all PCs are all examples.

Configuration Management

Configuration Management provides a logical model of the infrastructure or a service by identifying, controlling, maintaining and verifying the Configuration Items in existence.  Translation: The Asset inventory stored in a database (such as BMC FootPrints Asset Core) is a Configuration Item database.