IT frameworks demystified

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As IT becomes increasingly automated under the new data center architecture, more companies are embracing best-practices procedures outlined in formal IT frameworks. At stake are service quality, security, regulatory compliance and other increasingly important strategic corporate goals.

The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT), Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMi) and ISO 17799 are playing the biggest roles in the creation of the new data center. "These frameworks were written by different groups at different times for different reasons . . . but each has contributions to make to the new [virtualized] data center," says David Pultorak, president of Fox IT, a consulting firm specializing in IT service management.

Pultorak uses ITIL for service management as an example of how an IT framework can serve as a steppingstone to the new, more agile data center. "The ITIL framework supports defining services in a way that is distinct from the technology that underpins them, allowing flexibility in what technology components are used to support and deliver the service," he says.

While some duplication occurs among the frameworks, they are more complementary than overlapping and companies often employ more than one.

ITIL

Popular in Europe for years, ITIL is gaining attention at U.S. organizations. The framework originates with the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (now the Office of Government Commerce) in the U.K., which developed this set of best practices standards for IT service management in the late 1980s. The IT Service Management Forum, a global organization consisting of more than 12,000 corporate and government members, is responsible for advancing IT best practices through the use of ITIL.

Organized into a set of "books," ITIL offers a customizable framework of practices to provide high-quality service to internal users. ITIL covers functions such as service support, software support, computer operations and security management.

"ITIL is applicable to the data center because companies can use it to make sure they're doing the right things in terms of processes," Pultorak says.

For example, an insurance firm with a service-oriented data center could use ITIL procedures to ensure claims processing data is always available.

Organizing around services "sets the stage for the linkages between business and IT to be automated," Pultorak says. "With this stage set, and with the right infrastructure and management technologies, previously unimaginable levels of data center agility will enable greater business agility."

At Lockheed Martin Enterprise Information Services (EIS), ITIL is helping IT react more effectively when dealing directly with internal customers, says Kim Sawyer, vice president of computing and network services at the Bethesda, Md., company. While still in the early phase of adopting ITIL, Lockheed Martin EIS supports the Lockheed Martin Enterprise Service Desk, incident management and problem management functions via ITIL, she says. Change management, configuration management and release management are on the ITIL service management docket, she adds.