IT Service Continuity Management | IT Process Wiki (2024)

• 1 Process Description
• 2 Sub-Processes
• 3 Definitions
• 4 Templates | KPIs
• 5 Roles | Responsibilities
• 6 Notes

These are the IT Service Continuity Management sub-processes and their process objectives:

ITSCM Support

• Process Objective: To make sure that all members of IT staff with responsibilities for fighting disasters are aware of their exact duties, and to make sure that all relevant information is readily available when a disaster occurs.

Design Services for Continuity

• Process Objective: To design appropriate and cost-justifiable continuity mechanisms and procedures to meet the agreed business continuity targets. This includes the design of risk reduction measures and recovery plans.

ITSCM Training and Testing

• Process Objective: To make sure that all preventive measures and recovery mechanisms for the case of disaster events are subject to regular testing.

ITSCM Review

• Process Objective: To review if disaster prevention measures are still in line with risk perceptions from the business side, and to verify if continuity measures and procedures are regularly maintained and tested.

The following ITIL terms and acronyms (information objects) are used inthe IT Service Continuity Management process to represent process outputs and inputs:

Availability/ ITSCM/ Security Testing Schedule

• A schedule for the regular testing of all availability, continuity and security mechanisms, jointly maintained by Availability, IT Service Continuity and Information Security Management.

Business Continuity Strategy

• An outline of the approach to ensure the continuity of Vital Business Functions in the case of disaster events. The Business Continuity Strategy is prepared by the business and serves as a starting point for producing the IT Service Continuity Strategy.

Disaster Recovery Invocation Guideline

• A document produced by IT Service Continuity Management with detailed instructions on when and how to invoke the procedure for fighting a disaster. Most importantly, the guideline defines the first steps to be taken by 1st Level Support after learning that a (suspected) disaster has occurred.

Index of Disaster-Relevant Information

• A catalogue of all information that is relevant in the event of disasters. This document is maintained and circulated by IT Service Continuity Management to all members of IT staff with responsibilities for fighting disasters.

IT Service Continuity Report

• The IT Service Continuity Report is created at regular intervals and provides other Service Management processes and IT Management with information related to disaster prevention.

IT Service Continuity Plan

• IT Service Continuity Plans underpin the ITSCM Strategy, describing how continuity is ensured for specific disaster events and services. It specifies the measures to enhance the resilience of services and describes how to effectively respond to a disaster event. ITSCM Plans usually include references to more detailed Recovery Plans with specific instructions for returning systems to a working state.

IT Service Continuity Strategy

• The IT Service Continuity Strategy contains an outline of the approach to ensure the continuity of vital services in the case of disaster events. It includes a list of Vital Business Functions and applied risk reduction or recovery options. The IT Service Continuity Strategy should be based on a Business Continuity Strategy. The ITSCM Strategy is underpinned by more detailed ITSCM Plans, describing how continuity is ensured for specific disaster events and services.

Recovery Plan

• Recovery Plans are created mainly by Availability and IT Service Continuity Management. The plans contain detailed instructions for returning specific services and/or systems to a working state, which often includes recovering data to a known consistent state.

Test Report

• A Test Report provides a summary of testing and assessment activities. A Test Report is created for example during Release tests in the Service Transition stage or during tests carried out by Availability, IT Service Continuity or Information Security Management.