Jun 02, 2016

Service transition is a complex time as this is where testing piloting and deploying occur and it when most downtime can occur.

Service transition is when services are added, changed or retired. During this time we have to plan, build, test, evaluate and deploy the services in a controlled manner. Most importantly we have consider what would happen if any of the new services fail thus have a rollback plan in place in event of any failure.

Purpose and Scope of Service Transition

The purpose, and scope of Service Transition is to ensure that any new or modified services conform to business needs, and that those services being removed from service are retired in a controlled manner without causing any problems.

Service Transition Processes

As Transition is vital, ITIL® defines separate processes to manage changes and releases. Below are the main processes required:

• Change management – This is a key Transition process. Change will be a main cause of a service disruption, therefore maximum control over change is required ensuring there is minimum downtime.
• Service Asset and Configuration Management – As the deployment and management of service assets important Service Asset and Configuration management ensures that all configuration items are up to date and all data and configuration information has been ratified.
• Release and Deployment Management – A release in this case is a collection of hardware, software and documentation processes etc. which would we required to implement one or more changes in to service. Deployment being the actions required to move an approved release into production. Thus the managing of both ensures integrity of the production environment.
• Service Validation and Testing – Making sure that the service is “fit for purpose” and “fit for use.”
• Change Evaluation – This process deals with evaluation of a change. Ensuring implementation to identify all change effects.
• Knowledge Management – Ensuring that all knowledge is recorded efficiently with context and meaning allowing good decision making processes.

Thus the main aim of the transition stage is to ensure that all changes are managed efficiently and effectively without causing major disruptions to services.