beteo ALM Experts Blog

Category: Business Service Management

  • ITIL, PRINCE2, PMI – Just Paper Tigers?

    Historically developed IT structure
    Within their IT organizations, enterprises historically distinguish between project business, IT operations and IT development. In addition to these separate areas, there are several processes and systems for project requests, notification of incidents and problem management.

    ITIL, PRINCE2 and PMI are Used Separately within their Silos?
    For these processes, there are standards such as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), PRINCE2 and the PMBOK of Project Management Institute (PMI). But the project management office (PMO) and the change advisory board (CAB) execute their requests and analyses separately. This way of thinking in separate categories creates redundancies and ignores the synergistic potential. Interdependencies and influencing factors are neglected.  IT Service Management Forum (ITSMF) states:

    „Change management is responsible for the control of changes within the productive environment. It is not responsible for changes within running projects. However, a close coordination between development project managers and the change manager is expected.“

    From a project perspective, PRINCE2 and PMI require that operation must be included into planning. But the prioritization process in classical project portfolio management only covers project requests. Also change requests are only managed for projects. Neither of the two seems to be responsible. However, regarding them in isolation from one annother is a barrier to a holistic handling which enables a provisioning of IT services conforming with strategy.

    An Isolating View has Negative Effects
    There is no basis on which decision makers could define an order of priority for the activities between project business and IT operations. Although IT service management (ITSM) as well as project portfolio management (PPM) are already implemented and operated with a good process maturity level, the list of problems is long. Typical examples are:

    • Repeated processing of the same objects
    • Intransparent dependencies create higher risks
    • Troubleshooting and project implementation are delayed
    • Inaccurate planning due to lack of information
    • Critical resources can not be optimally used
    • Service level agreements (SLA) are defined only selectively
    • Changes cannot be tested comprehensively

    Comprehensive Service Portfolio Management is Desirable

    • Would it be helpful to view and evaluate all requests and requirements?
    • Could harmonizing the individual release processes (CAB und PMO) facilitate IT control?
    • Would pooling of problems and projects increase efficiency?
    • Could a holistic resource and schedule planning help to reach overall enterprise goals more efficiently?
    • Would a comprehensive view on risks help to avoid failures of IT operations?

    The Solution: Problem Portfolio as Part of Service Portfolio
    For these requirements, there are no established standards. The following method of procedure helps to clearly improve the efficiency of IT organziations:

    1. Establishing a problem portfolio

    • Situation analysis of incident, problem and change management
    • Definition of requirements for an overall problem management handling
    • Definition of an integrative problem management process
    • Harmonizing with incident  and change management
    • Establishing a problem portfolio as a control instrument

    2. Expanding and integrating service portfolio management

    Summary
    ITIL, PRINCE2 and PMI are highly useful frameworks capable of laying the foundation of an IT organization. But in order to challenge the „silo mentality“ and to take adequate advantage of them, they must be integrated with one another forming a holistic service portfolio & project management. Otherwise, they will be nothing but paper tigers.

  • HP BTO Software Centers – Overview

    HP offers a number of BTO Centers. These software packages support in the context of a BTO strategy specific phases of the application lifecycle. The following overview is meant to shed light on the HP BTO jungle.

    HP BTO Centers

    IT STRATEGY

    • Project and Portfolio Management Center (CIO Office)
      The IT management solution enables control and documentation of the enterprise processes, particularly with regard to an optimization of priorities, staff members and processes in IT organizations. For this purpose, modules for the management of portfolio, demand, time, changes, projects, resources, finances and programs are available. Upon coordination with business processes and enterprise requirements, the distribution and use of resources are optimized and processes are standardized (IT Governance).
    • SOA Center (CTO Office)
      The HP BTO solutions for governance, quality and management of service-oriented architectures (SOA) are designed to help customers to minimize economical risks in SOA project phases and to create a comprehensively controlled, business-oriented SOA basis. HP SOA Center enables registry/repository, policy management, consumer management, policy enforcement, performance monitoring und problem solving.

    APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

    • Quality Center
      With HP Quality Center, a cross-enterprise exchange of information about test requirements, test planning, test execution and error reporting is possible, as well as checking for web security issues covering the entire testing and development team. Through functional test runs, GUI interfaces are automatically tested in applications and various release cycles.
    • Performance Center
      HP Performance Center features a real-time simulation of the maximum access demanded by customer requests using active virtual user input of the applications. This enables system optimization before „going live“ and ensures the desired steady availability. A required optimization can be controlled and accomplished under system load by help of an analysis program. Thus, new web or SAP applications are made secure before going into production.
    • Application Security Center
      By using the technologies of HP Applications Security Center, security gaps in web applications can be identified and judged all across the lifecycle: from development and quality control up to operation. Also applications that are already running in a productive system, can be checked for security gaps. In addition, audit and compliance requirements such as Sarbanes-Oxley, HIP AA or PCI can be met.

    (IT) OPERATIONS

    • HP Universal CMDB
      HP Universal CMDB is a configuration management database for IT organizations planning to implement business service management and ITIL-based initiatives. This software allows you to take up, document and store – in addition to physical configuration elements – logical elements. It also provides extended functionality such as an effects analysis and access control for building up and maintaining CMDB.

    Business Service Management

    • Business Availability Center
      This solution allows you to monitor the availability and performance of applications in operation for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Business processes, service levels, applications an the underlying infrastructure are coordinated to one another. The infrastructure is visualized by a graphical view with the traffic light set of colors red, orange and green showing the state of operation. A drill down is available for detailed view and error analysis. BAC is used to ensure the active operation of all business-relevant applications and to verify internal or external SLA agreements.
    • Operations Center
      This solution features a comprehensive, service-oriented access to IT management. Information is integrated and synchronized across management silos, IT and business are connected to one another. This distributed, scalable management solution which also includes security features allows you to monitor, control and record the status and performance of different IT environments, covering network, system, databases, applications, services and Internet.
    • Network Management Center
      This network management solution is considered a strategic and particularly important investment. In the last few years it has been established as an indispensible component of error and event management as well as visualization of network topologies. Network configuration, network events, application performance, and network analysis are the main areas involved.

    Service Automation

    • Data Center Automation Center
      Process automation in IT centers can be effectively supported by HP Data Center Automation Center allowing IT organizations to easily increase cost efficiency and to better meet quality and compliance requirements.
    • Client Automation Center
      More and more security risks, increasing availability requirements, and the rapidly growing number of mobile and remote staff members make it more difficult to effectively and efficiently manage client computers – a requirement, however, which every modern success-oriented enterprise should focus upon. HP Client Automation Center allows you to automate relevant IT processes across the lifecycle of the client computers, no matter where their physical locations are.

    IT Service Management

    • Service Management Center
      HP Service Manager is a comprehensive, fully integrated IT service desk solution targeted to reduce the time spent on problem solving. Thanks to ITIL-based best practice processes and a scalable, service-oriented architecture, consistent, integrated processes can be rolled out all across IT organizations. Event, problem, change, and release management processes can be automated. Service level management and catalog-based service requests are supported. All processes are coordinated by means of configuration management.

  • Lifecycle Management – no Pain, no Gain!

    Successful IT Planning & Control must include not only IT Service Management and Project & Portfolio Management, but also Application Lifecycle Management in order to be of lasting benefit. The following illustration by Gartner clearly demonstrates this.

    IT Planning- & Controlling

    Considering the support of the various areas and, above all, of the interfaces between them, it is obvious that helpful methods and high-quality tools for Service Development (Project & Portfolio Management, Design, Development and Testing) and Service Delivery (IT Service Management) are available and in use.

    On the other hand, tools and methods supporting the interfaces between the different areas and to Application Lifecycle Management in general seem to be rather scarce.

    At the same time, Application Lifecycle Management promises attractive benefits like:

    • a noticeable increase in developer productivity
    • “best practice” in development and service roll-out
    • a clear focus of developers on business instead of technical requirements
    • largely improved collaboration between development and business area
    • improved time-to-market by repeatable and partly automated processes and generally improved resource planning

    The software manufacturers priding oneself on their solutions that are supposed to reduce either project or operating costs are getting a bore. To them, the direct interdependencies between business and development are rarely of central concern. Statements as to the benefit of the solutions usually refer to either of the two aspects, and very often, improvement on one side is combined with a dramatic rise of costs on the other. This is why this topic is often referred to as the general “IT dilemma”.

    A relevant issue of “good” software engineering is a comprehensive requirements management, covering diverse influencing parameters. However, there are few cases where with each requirement all depending lifecycle objects are taken into account right from the start. But without this, recognizing competing requirements as what they are is impossible. What is more, hardly ever consideration is given to changes that are being implemented. Thorough IT Planning and Control across all fields of activities including their interfaces also comprises referencing and versioning of the describing, organizational and technical objects and their relation to one another. IT Service, and IT as a whole, is regarded and referred to as a complete system.

    The same is often true for business: IT Service Management (ITSM) includes Trouble Tickets without a clear reference to the concerned objects in Application Lifecycle. Information about the newest changes is not passed on to either the present development or the planned projects. This results in duplication, inconsistencies and considerable effort put in subsequent coordination. Any kind of re-use following the change or the newest project release is moving beyond reach.

    “Comprehensive” process frameworks and methods such as ITIL, PRINCE2, PMI and COBIT or SOX audit and compliance standards are just as unsuitable to overcome the “IT dilemma”, because they all disregard the interdependencies between the Service Lifecycle objects, meaning between processes, services and all technical objects. Although it is the intent and purpose of all these standards to diminish risks, I doubt if they can half-way reach this target without taking these dependencies into account.

    To me, the only solution in sight is introducing a professional method- and tool-supported Application Lifecycle Management.

  • Application Management Reduces SAP Costs

    In the context of large commercial software installations, the opportunity to reduce costs in the long run – all through the life cycle of the systems – is tremendous. Four fields of Application Management, pragmatically introduced and applied, are able to substantially contribute to this potential benefit.

    Project Portfolio Management
    A consistent Project Portfolio Management (PPM) which considers, evaluates, and releases all changing activities from a business as well as an IT point of view, will concentrate effort and reduce cost. In many cases, changes are evaluated from either business or technical perspective. To get to a comprehensive assessment of change requests by IT – concerning complexity and effects on other business processes or technical components – suitable tools are often missing. As a result, decisions are often based on wrong assumptions, and effort and cost estimates prove to be false.

    Quality Management
    A pragmatic Quality Management, consistently supporting the development process, and realized as an integrated tool, is often missing or insufficiently implemented. Integration of development and quality methods and tools spanning all phases from definition of requirements up to testing, will ensure completeness of testing and, above all, hold the scope of testing activities at a reasonable level. Often, Quality Management fails because the scope of testing cannot be clearly defined. As a result, complete testing gets too laborious and will be left out in parts or even completely. When attempting to put the changes into effect, then, at the latest, there will be undesirable additional costs.

    Environment Protection
    The presumably most difficult issue with large SAP and other packet software installations can generally be referred to as Environment Protection – and it holds the greatest potential for benefit.     The number of components in modern systems is dramatically growing. The reutilization of customizing settings, data, processes, functions, program components or services helps in the first place to lower development costs. On the other hand, it increases the risk of changes taking effect on various parts of the system, intentionally or unintentionally.

    So how could be made sure that one or more changes at a time will not interfere with other functions that are, at the same time, running or being edited? There are in fact approaches to address this problem by the help of methods and tools. But most of them are to a large extent restricted to the developers´ perspective. They are inadequate for customizing activities, let alone for a business analyst evaluating the effects of changes, which means inadequate on business level. Environment Protection is getting a more and more exigent issue as the amount of internally and externally created services used in the context of SOA (Service Oriented Architectures) is constantly growing.

    Lifecycle Management
    The lifecycle of large applications is not restricted to three or five years. From a realistic point of view, we should rather talk about ten, twenty or more years. And these applications are permanently in a process of change. A consistent Lifecycle Management for all objects, no matter if they are of rather business-related, technical, organizational or descriptive nature or relate to the technical process of their development and operation, is a pressing requirement. The issue is not only relevant for the results of development – how is a result changed over a longer period of time, and for which reason? – but also for the development process itself: What does its realization look like? And, once it is clearly defined, should it repeatedly be carried out in the same way? Changes must be targeted and documented. Useful and reasonable documentation, digitalization, administration, and automation are in demand. This is a promising approach to avoid redundant and unnecessary activities in the context of system change and development.

    Summary
    Application Management projects around SAP and other large packet software installations in all kinds of industries make it obvious that the targeted investment in Project portfolio Management, Quality Management, Environment Protection and Lifecycle Management is profitable.     With reasonable effort, they produce high benefit all through the lifecycle of the systems. But there is also a short-term advantage, the reduction of errors. Better defined system environments facilitate parallel work on projects. And it will be possible to benefit from prior projects, with respect to development as well as testing and deployment.

    Project work, in particular, clearly shows the high demand for an optimized support of methods and tools in the context of Application Management. In many cases, there is still a great deal of unnecessary manual work done – an issue bearing a great potential for software vendors and at the same time being a challenge for producers of commercial software. In our new beteo mini guides, we present a survey of Application Management tools – not only for SAP systems.

  • SAP xRPM and HP PPM – Complementary Solutions?

    Whether in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for PPM or in evaluations for project portfolio management tools, HP PPM (HP Project and Portfolio Mangement Center) and SAP xRPM (xAPP Resource and Portfolio Management) are always positioned as competitors. But do the specific features of these very specialized solutions justify this positioning?

    What are HP PPM and SAP xRPM ideally used for?
    HP PPM has more or less been exclusively designed to be used for managing IT project portfolios. When it comes to integration with software development and application lifecycle components like testing, configuration management databases (CMDB), and business process management tools (BPM), HP PPM shows its real strengths. The strong process engine of HP PPM cannot only control and drive organizational process, it can also control the technical execution of other software components and allows the integration of quality assurance measures and impact analysis steps. Traditional workflow tools rarely go beyond automating organizational flows. With HP PPM, it is possible to systematically control and track portfolio authorization and to include decision criteria from integrated application portfolio analysis. The following also need to be understood and fed back into the decision process: the impact of a project to the IT system, whether or not implementation of the existing system increases the complexity of an IT system, and if the complexity makes it impossible to make a change to the system. What is missing in HP PPM, are capabilities to thoroughly analyze a project portfolio financially.

    SAP xRPM has been built to support business project portfolio analysis with financial data – not for only IT projects, but for projects of any kind. Based on information from SAP BI (SAP Business Intelligence) and SAP SEM (SAP Strategic Enterprise Management), this is readily identifiable by its architecture. The tool’s integration with SAP financial business data is SAP xRPM’s greatest advantage. SAP xRPM can access the most recent financial information from the customer’s SAP system anytime. Additionally, SAP SEM allows defining and running ad hoc financial simulations, and a “What-if analysis” can be run as part of a portfolio assessment. As opposed to HP PPM, SAP xRPM shows weaknesses in process control and in the area of specific IT portfolio analysis needs. In this area, the integration with development and application lifecycle technology is missing.

    Conclusion
    The decision for the right portfolio and project management solution normally depends on its integration with the management information and tools of the project resources. Missing integration means additional effort and challenges for the planning and execution. HP PPM and SAP xRPM deliver unique integration but into two very different areas: application portfolio versus financial information. The article “PPM – Alibi without Impact Analysis” provides further information on which functions should be covered by a portfolio and project management solution, and how different vendors with their products differentiate themselves.

    The logical consequence from the above positioning could be a complementary use of both HP PPM and SAP xRPM. This way, portfolio management can profit from the strong process engine of HP PPM and the analytical capabilities of xRPM. From a technological point of view, the two solutions can ideally marry, and HP PPM provides the technological capabilities to do so. It can also integrate a lifecycle product like SAP xRPM Architecture, concepts and target use of the tools are different. For this reason, the key to a successful project portfolio management solution is to combine both tools and precisely define the requirements upfront. Only then can the combined HP PPM and SAP xRPM be designed, and failure can be prevented. HP PPM properly integrated with SAP xRPM can be PPM at its best!

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