Automated Discovery Applications

Transcription

1 Automated Discovery Applications Examining the Heart of ITIL 10 June 2014 Michael Stroh BCS CMSG Conference The Future of Service Delivery

2 Agenda Why ADA? The Problem The Solution Critical Success Factors Pitfalls and Limitations ADA and ROI Conclusion 2

3 Agenda Why ADA? The Problem The Solution Critical Success Factors Pitfalls and Limitations ADA and ROI Conclusion 3

4 The purpose of an Automated Discovery Application (ADA) is to keep the CMDB data current, reliable and trustworthy 4

5 The purpose of an Automated Discovery Application (ADA) is to keep the CMDB data current, reliable and trustworthy 5

6 The purpose of an Automated Discovery Application (ADA) is to keep the CMDB data current, reliable and trustworthy CMDB needs automation to manage its complexity Configuration Management Data Base (CMDB) CMDB supports many ITIL processes like Change, Problem, Incident, Help Desk Management It contains infrastructure information (hardware and software) of the IT estate Initially accurate, but as time progresses it can become more and more outdated To manage the complexity of its operation, it needs automated methods to constantly update its information to be current with the real world 6

7 A CMDB is like a swimming pool 7

8 A CMDB is like a swimming pool 8

9 A CMDB is like a swimming pool Analogy of water and data When installed, the pool has fresh and clean water Without proper maintenance (filter pumps and chemicals), water becomes stagnant and the pool becomes unusable Similarly, without proper maintenance, the CMDB data becomes out of date, untrustworthy and eventually unusable 9

10 Agenda Why ADA? The Problem The Solution Critical Success Factors Pitfalls and Limitations ADA and ROI Conclusion 10

11 The current situation in many large companies is that infrastructure information goes out of date quickly 11

12 The current situation in many large companies is that infrastructure information goes out of date quickly Why is this the case? 12

13 The current situation in many large companies is that infrastructure information goes out of date quickly Why is this the case? Infrastructure Lifecycle (build, commission, decommission) operates on all devices and applications in the IT estate Information about the IT estate changes on a regular basis Dispose Plan Acquire Infrastructure data updates are not always made to reflect the real world Manage Deploy 13

14 Agenda Why ADA? The Problem The Solution Critical Success Factors Pitfalls and Limitations ADA and ROI Conclusion 14

15 Solution 1: Update CMDB manually by providing policies, processes and procedures (PPP) 15

16 Solution 1: Update CMDB manually by providing policies, processes and procedures (PPP) Why doesn t this work? Enforcement of the PPPs are difficult in an extended, often multi-national organization Often, PPPs are different for the same company in different parts of the world Staff often don t have the time, or they forget, to update the CMDB on every change of infrastructure that is made to the IT estate 16

17 Solution 2: Automate the CMDB update process using an ADA 17

18 Solution 2: Automate the CMDB update process using an ADA Initially, CMDB data is current and reliable. An ADA helps to manage complexity by automating the laborious and error-prone manual efforts of updating the CMDB 18

19 Solution 2: Why doesn t this work? Often ADA projects are difficult to implement due to overruns in time and budget Building connections (called Credential Management) to the target devices is difficult to implement This task is usually 80% of the work of implementing an ADA and the major reason why they fail 19

20 Solution 3: Automate the CMDB update process with ADA and automate the ADA credential management process 20

21 Solution 3: Automate the CMDB update process with ADA and automate the ADA credential management process Manage the complex task of connecting to target devices Credentials allow connection of the ADA to the target devices in the network Credential Management is about Provisioning, Verification and Reporting Use an automated toolset to provision and verify credentials on hundreds of servers at a time 21

22 Utilize an automated toolset for credential management of an ADA implementation (for credential-based ADAs) 22

23 Utilize an automated toolset for credential management of an ADA implementation (for credential-based ADAs) The main critical success factor 23

24 Utilize an automated toolset for credential management of an ADA implementation (for credential-based ADAs) The main critical success factor Provides a means of successfully completing ADA projects within time and budget Allows non-experts to provision and verify credentials and provide reports Independent of the ADA Separates the credential management process from the discovery scans Makes it easier to solve connection problems Speeds up delivery of ADA projects 24

25 Agenda Why ADA? The Problem The Solution Critical Success Factors Pitfalls and Limitations ADA and ROI Conclusion 25

26 There are other critical success factors for implementing an ADA Create a process flow Provision > Verify > Scan Baselining Identify a set of servers to scan => better progress reporting CMDB Integration Provides the ROI for the ADA implementation Knowledge capture Wiki tool for ADA documentation, progress reports, etc. Ensure Credential Management is part of the Infrastructure Lifecycle Add credentials to each newly commissioned target device Naming conventions Helps to identify location and purpose of servers by their name 26

27 Agenda Why ADA? The Problem The Solution Critical Success Factors Pitfalls and Limitations ADA and ROI Conclusion 27

28 A number of pitfalls have been observed in implementing and managing ADAs Pitfall Mitigation System administrators don t know how to resolve ADA connection issues System administrators unhelpful or unavailable to provision credentials or deploy agents Credentials or agents unable to be deployed or delayed by in-company infrastructure teams Stakeholders fear the introduction of the ADA Provide a root cause analysis document with typical problems and their solutions. Obtain authorization to provision ADA connections from the highest IT authority and assure that the IT management hierarchy also authorizes this activity. Engage the credential provisioning or agent deployment via a fully funded project Provide roadshows and forums to explain the advantages of the tool compared to manual methods. 28

29 There are limitations of the automated approach to discovering IT infrastructure components Manual effort Not all infrastructure data can be gathered automatically e.g. location, licensing and ownership data must be entered manually into the CMDB Work culture Work culture in the organization may not align with the idea of a centrally managed infrastructure tool Security Security concerns about the ADA connections to target servers may interfere with or prevent full deployment Target device credentials or agents may stop working over time 29

30 Agenda Why ADA? The Problem The Solution Critical Success Factors Pitfalls and Limitations ADA and ROI Conclusion 30

31 But what about the cost of the ADA? Is it justified? The short answer is, Yes! 31

32 But what about the cost of the ADA? Is it justified? The short answer is, Yes! Return on Investment (ROI) ADA costs = Initial project cost + marginal cost per target device ADA costs << ROI for large numbers of target devices ADA Scans Regular and automated scans of a company s infrastructure provide reliable centrally managed records of IT estate Productivity Increased Translates to reduced costs and increased productivity and profit for the business. 32

33 But what about the cost of the ADA? Is it justified? The short answer is, Yes! Return on Investment (ROI) ADA costs = Initial project cost + marginal cost per target device ADA costs << ROI for large numbers of target devices ADA Scans Regular and automated scans of a company s infrastructure provide reliable centrally managed records of IT estate Productivity Increased Translates to reduced costs and increased productivity and profit for the business. 33

34 Agenda Why ADA? The Problem The Solution Critical Success Factors Pitfalls and Limitations ADA and ROI Conclusion 34

35 Conclusion ADAs provide the foundation of an ITIL based Service Management implementation An ADA has many benefits to a large organisation They manage complexity of CMDB updates in a structured, reliable and well organised manner Technical challenges exist for implementation, but can be solved using automation Pitfalls and limitations of ADAs exist but ROI is justified for large numbers of target devices ITIL is a Registered Trade Mark of AXELOS Limited 35

36 Thank You 2013 Infosys Limited, Bangalore, India. All Rights Reserved. Infosys believes the information in this document is accurate as of its publication date; such information is subject to change without notice. Infosys acknowledges the proprietary rights of other companies to the trademarks, product names and such other intellectual property rights mentioned in this document. Except as expressly permitted, neither this documentation nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, printing, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Infosys Limited and/ or any named intellectual property rights holders under this document.