Service Directory

About the author:
Rob Woerden has been 1993, at first as a specialist and IT manager at CANAL+ Nederland. There, Rob made his first major contribution to ... » 

About the author:
Rob Woerden has been 1993, at first as a specialist and IT manager at CANAL+ Nederland. There, Rob made his first major contribution to improving internal IT services, by streamlining processes and setting up their in-house helpdesk. No surprise, then, when he made the jump across to Service Management consulting.
with his widespread practical experience it was the logical thing for Rob to help IT departments with the implementation of ITIL. From 1998 to 2002 a consultant and project manager, he joined ABN AMRO bank thereafter.
This book describes how the IT department of ABN AMRO Business Unit Nederland got its IT under control. Developing an information model that has been called Service Directory, this was successfully implemented in the IT organisation. Service Directory represents the practical execution of what is also known as IT Chain Management or Business Service Management.
Service Directory forms part of the ITIL process Configuration Management, delivering the basic information required for effective functioning of other ITIL processes. The model relates IT components to business processes based on clear-cut agreements.
IT users want to know what they can expect and make demands accordingly. In large IT organisations delivering a great range of services everything is related. For that reason, the people managing IT components must know what has been agreed with the customer, and really understand their interdependence. Relying on the premise that all of these relationships can be incorporated into one administrative whole, this approach allows mutual dependencies to become visible, clear, and employed more efficiently.
In discussing the thinking behind the Service Directory model and what can be accomplished with it, this book provides an insightful description of challenges faced during development and problems to be overcome during implementation. And of course in these pages you will also find a full explanation of the model itself. The creators of the Service Directory model are convinced that it is a useful tool, not only for ABN AMRO, but that many other large companies with large IT departments will find it beneficial. «