What is Service Operation?

 Jun 17, 2016

Service operation is where the “rubber hits the road”, i.e. then normal day-to-day tasks performed by the service desk. Delivering valuable processes and services to users to the business via technology.

In the Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition and Continual Service Improvement components of ITIL, we create value, however, no services are consumed and no business activity is experienced. As users access services during Service Operation, levels of support need to be very high, to support the usage levels. A customer ultimately wants value for money and thus will not pay for anything less.

The key aim of Service Operation is to maintain day-to-day services to a level that there are no problems. When problems arise principles in Service Operation prescribe responses based on business priority. Service feedback responses from Service Operation throughout the ITIL service lifecycle will enable continual service improvement.

The Processes that carried out in Service Operation are:

Incident management

The process where the users call the service desk when a service disruption or failure occurs and the service desk then deals with this by the processes laid out within incident management.

Request Fulfillment

As single point of contact the service desk also fulfills requests from the users for services. These may be in the format of a password reset a request for software or licenses and any standard change as described in change management. This process requires that the service desk log, categorize, prioritize, schedule, and satisfy service requests from users. All these need to carried out diligently with keeping in mind the factor of value to the users.

Event Management

Any events are generated by operating systems, applications and monitoring tools. Also need to be dealt with in Service operations. Any events generated during normal operations may generallyt require no response, however occasionally certain events may cause failure or problems and will requre incident management.

Access Management

Access management works with information security management to ensure that information security policy are enforced. Requests for access may be initiated as service requests and be handled by the service desk, or may be routed to a security group for fulfillment.

With all the above in mind service operation is the most active component of Service Management and will the one where the users have most contact with the “IT” of the business and where value will be realised by them.

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About the Author:

Steve Wiggins  

Steve is a highly experienced technical trainer with over 10 years of specialisation in Software Application Development, Project Management, VBA Solutions and Desktop Applications training. His practical experience in .NET programming, advanced solution development and project management enables him to train clients at all levels of seniority and experience. Steve also currently manages the IT infrastructure for New Horizons of Brisbane, providing him with daily hands-on experience with SCCM, Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8.

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