Optimize Systems Management to Improve IT Resilience and Proactivity
Streamline processes, use tools with purpose, and continually look for opportunities to improve.
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Immature systems management processes result in:
- IT not realizing maximum value on its investment in systems management.
- Waste of technicians’ time on isolated problems that should have been identified earlier.
- IT being ill-equipped to respond to the changing needs of the organization.
- Inadequate service delivery.
- Budget wasted on tools and software that provide redundant capabilities or are under-utilized.
An optimized systems management process results in:
- New opportunities from identifying system redundancies and inefficiencies, as well as opportunities for improvement.
- Accurately prioritized IT efforts to reduce wasted costs.
- Refined processes to improve efficiency and reduce wasted time and effort.
- Reduced time spent performing management tasks.
- Improved IT credibility and user experience.
- Reduced number of incidents that impact business availability.
- Reduced number of unplanned changes.
- Improved overall resilience of IT infrastructure.
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Onsite Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn’t enough, we offer low-cost onsite delivery of our Project Workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a road map in place to complete your project successfully.
Book NowModule 1: Make the Case for Optimizing Systems Management
The Purpose
- Define systems management.
- Scope your management project.
- Determine the value of systems management.
- Avoid common pitfalls.
- Build the business case for optimizing systems management.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Hard dollar value estimate for the systems management initiative.
- Identification of common problems to be avoided.
- Advice on aligning the case with business priorities.
- Quantified criticality of services and systems.
| Activities: | Outputs: | |
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| 1.1 | Assess the criticality of IT services |
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| 1.2 | Evaluate the management value threshold |
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| 1.3 | Summarize the business case for optimization |
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Module 2: Align Systems Management with Organizational Priorities
The Purpose
- Align priorities with actual organizational need.
- Identify specific trouble spots.
- Create specific project goals.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Identify user-perceived service deficiencies.
- Measure the value and criticality of core systems for prioritization purposes.
- Quickly target quick wins by taking action on underperforming systems.
- Prioritize services and systems to guide optimization efforts.
| Activities: | Outputs: | |
|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | Review service desk ticket logs and identify patterns to help prioritize based on user experience |
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| 2.2 | Drill down from the service level to identify systems and components inhibiting performance |
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| 2.3 | Prioritize performance gaps to maximize value of the optimization project |
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| 2.4 | Document identified pain points and turn problems into actions |
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| 2.5 | Design focused, measured goals for the optimization project |
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Module 3: Refine Systems Management Processes with Optimized Visual SOPs
The Purpose
- Refine processes to ensure clear interaction across management silos.
- Transform opaque documentation into usable SOPs.
- Identify candidates for automation.
- Streamline SOPs and reduce process inefficiency.
Key Benefits Achieved
- More effectively communicate processes in a format that will be read and used rather than filed and forgotten.
- Automate repeatable processes to reduce process duration and the risk of human error.
| Activities: | Outputs: | |
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| 3.1 | Collect and evaluate present SOPs to identify opportunities for improvement |
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| 3.2 | Review existing SOPs with the documentation scorecard |
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| 3.3 | Review existing processes and specify terms under which they become active |
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| 3.4 | Map relationships between SOPs to ensure smooth interfaces between processes |
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| 3.5 | Identify and record candidate processes for automation |
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| 3.6 | Document revised processes with Visual SOPs to improve readability and usability |
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Module 4: Refine Your Systems Management Toolkit
The Purpose
- Define systems management.
- Scope your management project.
- Determine the value of systems management.
- Avoid common pitfalls.
- Build the business case for optimizing systems management.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Identify actual requirements for systems management tools.
- Determine the value and relative grip of each tool in the environment.
- Eliminate unnecessary software licenses and reduce management headaches with a deduplicated toolkit.
| Activities: | Outputs: | |
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| 4.1 | Establish a tool selection committee to develop a requirements list that meets your team’s needs |
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| 4.2 | Develop a detailed list of technology requirements to guide the selection process |
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| 4.3 | Identify need-to-have and nice-to-have features to find a solution that meets your needs |
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| 4.4 | Evaluate your toolkit to eliminate redundancies and find opportunities to streamline your software |
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| 4.5 | Perform a tool rationalization exercise to eliminate redundant capabilities |
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| 4.6 | Interpret the results of your tool rationalization exercise |
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Module 5: Build a Plan to Implement Your Optimization Initiative
The Purpose
- Develop a project team and stakeholder management strategy.
- Build a roadmap to implement the optimization project.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Identify key roles and responsibilities.
- Manage stakeholder concern and win over skeptics.
- Have a concrete schedule for implementing optimization.
| Activities: | Outputs: | |
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| 5.1 | Plan to approach stakeholders strategically to win over skeptics and gain project champions |
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| 5.2 | Assemble the project team and arrange participation to ensure project buy-in |
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| 5.3 | Clarify team responsibilities with a RACI chart |
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| 5.4 | Plan regular reviews of processes and practices to ensure continual optimization |
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| 5.5 | Determine milestones to evaluate project progress and success |
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| 5.6 | Determine your systems management optimization roadmap structure |
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| 5.7 | Start building your roadmap by identifying external factors that will affect the project |
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| 5.8 | Populate the roadmap with initiatives to complete the project plan |
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