The ITIL framework has become the industry standard when it comes to IT service management. To fully realize the effectiveness of ITIL management, your business will need to rely on certified ITIL professionals who are qualified to implement ITSM practices. The following are some of the ITIL roles and responsibilities that these professionals are entrusted with across all five stages of ITIL.
What are some of the major ITIL roles and responsibilities?
The 5 stages of ITIL include service strategy, service design, service transition, service operation, and continual service improvement. Let’s discuss some of the key ITIL roles and responsibilities within each stage.
1.Service strategy
- Business relationship manager
The BR manager is responsible for maintaining client relationships. This includes understanding client needs and making sure that the client goals are met. The business relationship manager works in accordance with the service level manager.
- IT Steering Group (ISG)
The IT Steering Group (ISG) is responsible for setting the IT strategies and services. The group comprises senior management from business and IT. This group reviews business and IT strategies in order to make sure that they are aligned. They make sure that the strategy in place aligns with the business objectives.
- Financial manager
The Financial Manager oversees the IT service provider’s budget, accounts, and charge requirements. This individual ensures that a proper record is maintained for every business & financial transaction. It includes areas such as accounting and budgeting.
- Service Strategy manager
The service strategy manager plans and monitors the strategies used to serve customers. He also ensures that the strategies meet with the business and client goals. The service strategy manager works closely with the IT Steering Group and develops the service provider’s offerings and capabilities.
2. Service Design
- Service Catalogue manager
Responsible for maintaining an accurate service catalogue and updating it from time to time.
- Service Design Manager
Responsible for making sure that the designs produced are of high quality and secure. This includes producing and maintaining all design documentation.
- Service Level Manager
The service level manager oversees the negotiating and compliance of service level agreements. This individual is also responsible for IT Service Management processes, operational level agreements, and underpinning contracts are appropriate for the agreed service level targets. They negotiate and decide which contract is best suited for achieving the service level target.
- Service Owner
Responsible for delivering the agreed service and negotiating operational level contracts. The service owner is a counterpart, of sorts, of the Service Level Manager when negotiating Operational Level Agreements (OLAs). Typically, the service owner will be put in charge of a technical support unit comprised of specialists and will oversee the operations therefore.
- Compliance Manager
The Compliance manager makes sure that all the operations follow strict rules and guidelines and are in compliance with all legal requirements. He/She makes sure that proper accounting practices are carried out.
- IT Architect
The IT architect creates a development map for future technological landscape. They consider the service strategies available and the newly available technologies when updating the IT infrastructure.
3. Service Transition
Change manager
The change manager is responsible for implementing, authorizing, and recording all the changes made to the IT infrastructure to ensure the smooth running of all operations.
- Change Advisory Board (CAB)
The Change Advisory Board is a group of individuals from various departments that advise the change manager on matters of change prioritization and scheduling.
- Configuration Manager
The configuration manager maintains all the details about the items that are required to deliver IT services. They create a logical model comprising the various aspects the IT infrastructure (CIs).
- Project Manager
Responsible for planning, assembling, and coordinating all infrastructure resources to deploy a major release within the estimated budget and time restraints.
- Release Manager
The release manager is in charge of planning and controlling the schedule of the releases that need to be tested in live environments. He/She is entrusted with making sure that all the releases are functional and in perfect working condition before they are released in a live environment.
- Application Developer
The Application Developer ensures that all the applications and systems provide the required functionality for IT services. This includes the development and maintenance of custom applications as well as the customization of products from software vendors.
4. Service Operation
First Level Support
The first level support team is expected to register and classify all reported incidents and respond and take immediate action to restore failed services as soon as possible based on their priorities. They are also in charge of processing service requests and giving users updates on the status of their incidents. If an immediate solution can’t be found, the incident is passed on to the second level support.
- Second Level Support
This support team takes over the incidents which couldn’t be solved ad-hoc by the first level support group. This goal here is to restore the failed IT service as quickly as possible. If no solution can be found, the Second Level Support passes on the incident to Problem Management.
- Third Level Support
They are mostly software and hardware manufacturers whose services are requested as external support by the second level support team.
5. Continual Service Improvement
- CSI Manager
The continual service improvement manager is in charge of improving the combined performance of all major ITIL process roles across multiple sectors, including service strategy, service management, and service design.
- Process Manager
In charge of planning, coordinating, and controlling all the process management and improvement activities.
- Process Owner
The process owner is primarily responsible for making sure that each process is suitable for attaining an objective.
What is the role of ITIL within IT service management?
In short, ITIL is a comprehensive service management framework that ensures that all services are delivered in a cost-effective yet quality-driven manner. It covers a wide range of management activities that include devising service strategies, maintaining a positive relationship with the customers and meeting their needs, addressing concerns immediately, improving performance, and co-ordinating all the IT service levels to work together seamlessly towards attaining the organizational objectives.
Since ITIL is a framework designed to standardize the choosing, strategizing, delivery and maintenance of IT services within a business, its main goal is to improve the efficiency to be able to achieve predictable service delivery. This means that the roles of the various personnel involved in the same are even more critical. Primarily due to the seriousness of the roles.
