ITIL Service Operation

ITIL Service Operation involves managing the smooth delivery of IT services with the ultimate goal of delivering value to the business. Service Operation must be aware of the changing needs within business based on advancing technology, such as cloud computing and cloud security needs.

Service operation encompasses the day-to-day activities, processes, and infrastructure that are responsible for delivering value to the business through technology. Just as most people expect the lights to turn on at every flick of a switch, business users have become completely dependent on the capabilities that IT services enable. Think of service operation as a managed service provider or a utility company responsible for providing the power that customers need to do their jobs. Without electricity, many activities would come to a halt. Further, without the processes to ensure the delivery of that electricity, the service would be unreliable. Utility companies must also be proactive, for example, trimming trees to prevent outages from falling branches that may sever electric lines. Customers don’t care about all the required resources (e.g., people, process, and technology) involved in delivering electricity to their homes. They just want reliable service when they need it and at a fair cost.

Service Operation (SO) is the Forth Process group of ITIL Service Lifecycle under ITIL Framework. It provides best-practice guidance on how to maintain stability in IT Services, and for achieving the agreed level targets of service delivery.

Service Operation Functions

Service Operation comprises of four functions as shown in the following diagram

• Service Desk: Service Desk is the first and single point of contact. It plays vital role in customer satisfaction. It coordinates activities between end user and IT service provider team. It also own the logged requests and ensures closure of these requests. There are four types of Service Desk −
  • Central Service Desk: In this, there is only one central Service Desk.
  • Local or distributed Service Desk: It is costly but closer to the user. It’s difficult to manage and maintain.
  • Virtual Service Desk: It is very costly but results in fast processing.
• Specialized Service Desk: It includes dedicated skilled staff for specific queries.
• IT Operation Management: This function is responsible for managing organization’s day-to-day operational activities
• Technical Management: Technical Management staff includes technical expertises that are responsible for management of overall IT infrastructure.
• Application Management: Application Management is responsible for managing applications and software throughout the lifecycle of the service.