Dit yvol2iss2
0 likes177 views
The document discusses how to conduct an effective Business Impact Analysis (BIA) according to ITIL best practices. It recommends a 6 step process: 1) establish impact measurement metrics and identify stakeholders, 2) create a standardized BIA form and questionnaire, 3) gather data by sending the questionnaire to stakeholders, 4) analyze the collected data to quantify potential impacts, 5) validate the findings with stakeholders, and 6) publish the final BIA report. Following this process results in a consistent, cost-effective way to improve IT decision making by considering all potential impacts.
Dit yvol2iss2
- 1. itSM Solutions® DITY™ Newsletter Reprint This is a reprint of an itSM Solutions® DITY™ Newsletter. Our members receive our weekly DITY Newsletter, and have access to practical and often entertaining articles in our archives. DITY is the newsletter for IT professionals who want a workable, practical guide to implementing ITIL best practices -- without the hype. become a member (It's Free. Visit http://www.itsmsolutions.com/newsletters/DITY.htm) Publisher itSM Solutions™ LLC 31 South Talbert Blvd #295 Lexington, NC 27292 Phone (336) 510-2885 Fax (336) 798-6296 Find us on the web at: http://www.itsmsolutions.com. To report errors please send a note to the editor, Hank Marquis at hank.marquis@itsmsolutions.com For information on obtaining copies of this guide contact: sales@itsmsolutions.com Copyright © 2006 Nichols-Kuhn Group. ITIL Glossaries © Crown Copyright Office of Government Commerce. Reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Office of Government Commerce. Notice of Rights / Restricted Rights Legend All rights reserved. Reproduction or transmittal of this guide or any portion thereof by any means whatsoever without prior written permission of the Publisher is prohibited. All itSM Solutions products are licensed in accordance with the terms and conditions of the itSM Solutions Partner License. No title or ownership of this guide, any portion thereof, or its contents is transferred, and any use of the guide or any portion thereof beyond the terms of the previously mentioned license, without written authorization of the Publisher, is prohibited. Notice of Liability This guide is distributed "As Is," without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, respecting the content of this guide, including but not limited to implied warranties for the guide's quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose. Neither the authors, nor itSM Solutions LLC, its dealers or distributors shall be liable with respect to any liability, loss or damage caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by the contents of this guide. Trademarks itSM Solutions is a trademark of itSM Solutions LLC. Do IT Yourself™ and DITY™ are trademarks of Nichols-Kuhn Group. ITIL ® is a Registered Trade Mark, and a Registered Community Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce, and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and is used here by itSM Solutions LLC under license from and with the permission of OGC (Trade Mark License No. 0002). IT Infrastructure Library ® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce and is used here by itSM Solutions LLC under license from and with the permission of OGC (Trade Mark License No. 0002). Other product names mentioned in this guide may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
- 2. ITIL BUSINESS IMPACT ANALYSIS IT Experience. Practical Solutions. DITY™ Newsletter The workable, practical guide to Do IT Yourself™ HOW TO WIN WITH BIA Vol. 2.2, JAN. 11, 2006 By Hank Marquis Throughout the ITIL, you see Impact Analysis or Business Impact Analysis (BIA) as critical to effective IT decision making, and invaluable to overcoming objections. However, few actually know how to perform a BIA; and fewer that a BIA is not something you do by yourself! hank MARQUIS Articles E-mail Bio The BIA measures and reports on the possible affects associated with changes or disruptions to IT Services, processes, or Configuration Items (CIs). The purpose of BIA is to speed, ease and improve decision making while reducing errors. Learning how to standardize BIA can dramatically improve your process for making good IT decisions. Of course, better decision making improves the efficiency and effectiveness of all the ITIL processes. Like many aspects of the ITIL, BIA is something you can standardize and formalize into a repeatable process. The following 6 steps provide a very effective template for sound IT decision making and creating a sound BIA process. The following 6 steps provide a very effective template for sound IT decision making and creating a sound BIA process. 1. Establishment -- Working with management and customers agree to a method of representing business impact, and representatives who can assist in the BIA. If you have not already done so, involve Change and Configuration Management in this process. http://www.itsmsolutions.com/newsletters/DITYvol2iss2.htm (1 of 3)11/11/2006 11:22:29 AM
- 3. ITIL BUSINESS IMPACT ANALYSIS a. Choose and agree to one way to express the “cost of downtime” -- dollars, time, lost 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. customers, impacted user minutes, etc. Don’t forget to include both “hard” and “soft” costs such as market position, industry reputation, customer perception, and legal loss potential into your conversations about “cost of downtime.” b. Select those IT Services the business feels critical to their success, include those “internal” IT Services IT feels are critical as well. c. Determine BIA Team membership. BIA requires a team. Identify those people who can review proposals and provide clear and accurate assessment of potential impact to their area of expertise -- CAB members and delegates are a good source of such people. Form Creation -- Your goal is a repeatable BIA process, one accepted by management and customers, so you need a form. An excel spreadsheet works nicely here. a. Create a new spreadsheet, and add titles for goals, objectives, and scope to help you focus and enforces a modular and repeatable process. b. Input each critical service on a row. Input “cost of downtime” formula agreed with the business, and a column “minutes of downtime.” c. Prepare a BIA Questionnaire. It should include a cover memo that will contain an explanation of the proposal, and an area for BIA Team responses. You now have a template that can calculate the “cost of downtime” in terms everyone understands and agrees. This is the basis for your BIA. Data Gathering -- The BIA is not something you do by yourself! A sound BIA needs to involve those people involved in whatever you are analyzing. For each BIA prepare a questionnaire, with a cover memo detailing the proposal. Send the questionnaire to the BIA Team. Ask them each to respond about: a. Impact to their functional area (using the agreed “cost of downtime” metric) b. Additional expenses projected (dollars, times, etc.) c. Their readiness d. Technology issues they perceive e. Any other issues (this is important) Analysis -- Review the information returned from the BIA Team questionnaire carefully. The entire purpose is to improve decision-making. Using the estimates from the questionnaire, update the spreadsheet. Tabulate and total the results. You should now have a clear, unambiguous valuation of the potential impact of the proposal. Now, you must validate your findings before publishing them as fact. Validation -- Failure to validate your findings with the BIA team is a critical mistake. Often, participants will not agree with their original estimates when they see the first analysis. Your goal is to achieve accuracy, not consensus however. Publishing -- Send the completed BIA report to all those who participated, as well as whomever will actually use the BIA to make a decision. Use any accepted reporting format, but be sure to include a summary, the objectives, and scope of the BIA, as well as the input from the BIA Team. Readers of the report may choose to contact those organization particularly impacted by the proposal. A BIA performed in this manner is easy and inexpensive to produce as it uses standard office tools. The standard format and process means each BIA will be consistent, and aids in correct decision-making. Decision makers will come to rely upon your BIA, and the team approach takes into account the http://www.itsmsolutions.com/newsletters/DITYvol2iss2.htm (2 of 3)11/11/2006 11:22:29 AM
- 4. ITIL BUSINESS IMPACT ANALYSIS concerns of the organizations involved — making it easier to overcome resource, scheduling and cost objections! -q q Subscribe to our newsletter and get new skills delivered right to your Inbox, click here. To browse back-issues of the DITY Newsletter, click here. Entire Contents © 2006 itSM Solutions LLC. All Rights Reserved. http://www.itsmsolutions.com/newsletters/DITYvol2iss2.htm (3 of 3)11/11/2006 11:22:29 AM