LO 2:

Revise practices, where appropriate

Overview of monitoring maintenance operation

• The Monitoring Maintenance Lifecycle (MML) is a monitoring

development process to reduce maintenance costs and increase
reliability of IT infrastructure concerning service recovery related
problems. It is based on the classical Waterfall model.
• Monitoring Maintenance Lifecycle are methods and standards for
improving and mastering maintenance processes, supporting processes
and management processes throughout the monitoring lifecycle.
• After the procedure is implemented to the organization its progress is
measured and its benefit is compared with the previous maintenance
mechanism used by that organization.
Identifying problem Areas to meet service
level agreements
service-level agreement (SLA)
• A service-level agreement (SLA) is a contract between a service
provider and its internal or external customers that documents what
services the provider will furnish and defines the service standards the
provider is obligated to meet
Why are SLAs important?

• Service providers need SLAs to help them manage customer expectations and
define the circumstances under which they are not liable for outages or
performance issues.
• Customers can also benefit from SLAs in that they describe the performance
characteristics of the service, which can be compared with other vendors' SLAs,
and also set forth the means for redressing service issues -- via service credits,
for example.
• For a service provider, the SLA is typically one of two foundational agreements
it has with customers.
• Many service providers establish a master services agreement to establish the
general terms and conditions in which they will work with customers.
• Between the two service contracts, the SLA adds greater specificity regarding the
services provided and the metrics that will be used to measure their performance.
What goes into an SLA?
• In broad terms, an SLA will typically include a statement of objectives,
a list of the services to be covered by the agreement and will also define
the responsibilities of the service provider and customer under the SLA.
• The customer, for example, will be responsible for making a
representative available to resolve issues with the service provider in
connection with the SLA.
• The service provider will be responsible for meeting the level of service
as defined by the SLA.
• The service provider's performance is judged according to a set of
metrics. Response time and resolution time are among the key metrics
included in an SLA, since they relate to how the service provider deals
with a service interruption.
Penalties: Repercussions for breaking
terms
• In addition to establishing performance metrics, an SLA may include a
plan for addressing downtime and documentation for how the service
provider will compensate customers in the event of a contract breach.
• The SLA will also include a section detailing exclusions, that is,
situations in which an SLA's guarantees -- and penalties for failing to
meet them -- don't apply.
• The list might include events such as natural disasters or terrorist acts.
This section is sometimes referred to as a force majeure clause, which
aims to excuse the service provider from events beyond its control.
Who needs a service-level agreement?
• SLAs are thought to have originated with network service providers,
but are now widely used in a range of IT-related fields.
• Companies that establish SLAs include IT service providers,
managed service providers and cloud computing service providers.
• Corporate IT organizations, particularly those that have embraced IT
service management (ITSM), enter SLAs with their in-house
customers -- users in other departments within the enterprise.
• An IT department creates an SLA so that its services can be measured,
justified and perhaps compared with those of outsourcing vendors.
Assessing Change in consultation
Why change is required in some system?
• Changes are often implemented in an organization if something is not
functioning correctly, or if production or quality is not at the expected
level.
• After a change has been implemented, the organization needs to
analyze and assess the change to determine if it has produced negative
or positive results.
Possible Indicators for Assessing changes Maintenance
procedures
• Are equipment and infrastructure reliable?
• How many maintenance incidents were there per workstation/server during the
current academic year (by cause, category, and location)?
• What was the average number of downtime hours per workstation/server
during the current academic year?
• What is the average number of calls to help desk/tech-support services per
workstation/server?
• What is the average elapsed time between the receipt of a call to the help desk
and the response call to the end user?
• What is the average elapsed time between the initial response call and the
notification of problem resolution?
Cont.…
• Are appropriate preventive maintenance procedures in place?
• Has a preventive maintenance schedule been established?
• Has a preventive maintenance checklist been provided to all end-users?
• Has access to frequently asked questions (FAQs) been provided to support
staff and end users alike?
• Has access to user manuals been provided to end users?
• Are file backup procedures in place?
• Are disaster recovery procedures in place?
Cont.…
• Are update and replacement procedures in place?
• Has a replacement/upgrade schedule been established for hardware?
• Has a replacement/upgrade schedule been established for software?
• Are diagnostic and repair resources available?
• Is help desk support software available (e.g., trouble ticketing, resolution
tracking)?
• Is diagnostic software available (as appropriate)?
• Are appropriate repair instruments/tools available on school premises?
• Are basic replacement parts in stock?
Establishing Maintenance Plans /Ass/
• Automobile manufacturers recommend having an engine tuned and oil
changed regularly to keep a car running as efficiently as possible.
Similar maintenance is required of a computer system.
• It is best not to wait until problems arise-avoid problems in the first
place!
• An organization can carry out much of its own routine, preventive
maintenance (e.g., checking database size, purging outdated records,
and deleting idle user accounts), but in spite of efforts to deliver a
high-quality preventive maintenance program, problems will still
occur.
Cont.…
• To deal with them, many organizations have maintenance agreements
with outside contractors for fix-it-when-it-breaks service, particularly
for hardware.
• The key factors in these agreements are response time to a trouble call
and the availability and proximity of spare parts.
• In other words, planners need to know how long it will take to get the
problems fixed when (not if) they arise.
Cont.…

Fig1. Assessment and planning model

THANK YOU!