The model described in this book is based on the IT environment, which is the IT organization’s equivalent to a production line. Just as in the factory, the entire IT organization participates in the responsibility for IT services. To clarify the responsibility between the different parts of the IT organization, the services’ life cycles are divided into five different phases.
Operation – The IT department’s production line. The IT environment needs to be maintained in order to continuously produce IT services. Preventive maintenance activities are required, and if nevertheless errors occur, then they need to be rectified, and if problems arise then they must be investigated. All activities required to maintain functionality in the IT environment are included in Operation.
Transition -” Don’t fix what’s not broken” is a mantra in all technical environments, regardless of sector. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work in the reality of IT organizations, as the need and demand for IT services is constantly changing. The aim of Transition is to protect the IT environment in connection with changes, and to thereby ensure that the business experiences as little disruption as possible during deployment.
Delivery Control -It is in this phase that the IT organization leads the work and decides how the IT services are to be produced. The aim is to save time and expenditure for operations. However, it can also involve activities that have the aim of improving processes, documentation or expertise.
Relations – The aim of this phase is to understand the business’s requirements and simultaneously create understanding in the business for the value IT services supply. This is one of the fundamental aspects in establishing an IT department which is regarded as an asset for the business instead of a cost.
Strategy – Strategy shows how the IT organization will support the business in the work of achieving the goals set, indicating which IT services should be supplied to ensure that the goals are achieved, as well as how the services are produced in the most effective way.
