Optimizing ITIL Best Practices with Mercury BTO - A White Paper Prepared for Mercury December 2005
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Optimizing ITIL Best Practices with Mercury BTO A White Paper Prepared for Mercury December 2005
Table of Contents
Best Practices for IT: ITIL Market Trends ....................................................................................................................................1
The Need for Best Practices.........................................................................................................................................................1
Technology Complexity—Services vs. Silos........................................................................................................................1
ITIL: The Leading Best Practice Reference for Services........................................................................................................2
ITIL Service Support and Service Delivery Backgrounder..............................................................................................2
Managing Services from a Customer-Business Perspective .......................................................................................................4
Customer-Business Focus vs. User/Service-Desk Focus.......................................................................................................4
Mercury Business Technology Optimization (BTO)....................................................................................................................4
Mapping Mercury BTO to ITIL Best Practices........................................................................................................................4
Key ITSM Capabilities...................................................................................................................................................................5
Incident Management (Service Desk)...................................................................................................................................5
Change Management................................................................................................................................................................5
Configuration Management....................................................................................................................................................6
Release Management................................................................................................................................................................6
Problem Management .............................................................................................................................................................6
Availability Management..........................................................................................................................................................6
Service Level Management......................................................................................................................................................7
ITSM Accelerator......................................................................................................................................................................7
IT Governance................................................................................................................................................................................7
Customizable Workflow Engine and Process Digitization...............................................................................................8
Managing the IT Portfolio.......................................................................................................................................................8
EMA Viewpoint . ................................................................................................................................................................................8
About Mercury.....................................................................................................................................................................................8Optimizing ITIL Best Practices with Mercury BTO
Best Practices for IT: ITIL Market Trends strategic value derives from acting on the driver behind
Information Technology Infrastructure Library the decision (for example, the need to consolidate data
(ITIL) best practices have gained momentum centers or to deploy a new application to meet new
among corporations seeking to advance Information business requirements). By infusing discipline, order,
Technology (IT) effectiveness and bottom line and foresight into IT projects, best practices increase
efficiencies. Compelling drivers for ITIL adoption efficiency and ultimately competitiveness.
include business and economic pressures incited by Historically IT departments were self-directed and not
demand for high availability and performance of viewed as contributors to the bottom line. Today, best
complex technology systems, financial accountability, practices help IT groups focus on meeting corporate
and regulatory compliance. Such pressures necessitate objectives. By linking business drivers to IT objectives,
that companies find efficient, repeatable ways of companies can better assess the business value of IT
managing IT functions and controlling the flow of data investments. As a result, where IT used to be viewed
through an organization. In complex environments, as a costly albeit necessary investment, companies are
where inefficiency can mean chaos, it becomes even beginning to view IT as a strategic player in the enterprise.
more critical that companies be able to integrate, track, In part, this thinking also is due to the demand for 24x7
and align IT with business requirements—essentially, availability and performance, the prominence of high-
link IT to business performance. profile initiatives in security and compliance, and the fact
As software vendors expand their offerings to address that IT is driving new sources of revenue. As IT becomes
multiple areas of ITIL, implementers can consider more visible as a contributor to strategic business goals,
integrated solutions that address many if not all of the the need to justify technology investments grows and
ITIL recommendations. Mercury, long known for its the need for best practices becomes greater.
application management and testing software, offers IT investments have never been cheap, and costs are
a range of products that support ITIL best practices. sometimes aggravated by poorly defined deliverables
Mercury’s Business Technology Optimization (BTO) and unsound business practices. Without clearly defined
solution set in particular focuses on automating ITIL goals and a repeatable process in place to assess and
best practices in the support and delivery of IT services. report on IT performance levels, IT managers often are
In its latest release, BTO expands Change Management challenged to build a business case that demonstrates
and Service Level Management (SLM) capabilities, how IT investments will contribute to the bottom line.
integrates workflow capabilities, incorporates dashboards It is difficult for companies to garner support from
from Mercury’s Business Availability Center (BAC), and executives and lines of business or to justify labor
includes an updated IT Governance (ITG) framework. and delivery costs when they are unable to ascertain
Mercury ITG facilitates accountability and compliance Return On Investment (ROI). With best practices in
efforts while incorporating SLM best practices. Drawing place, companies are better positioned to apply rational
on Mercury’s array of products—such as BAC, ITG, and thinking and metrics when assessing ROI and the
Mercury Application Management—BTO maps to ITIL Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of IT investments.
disciplines and enables users to tailor ITIL processes to Additionally, they are better positioned to meet IT
meet particular business requirements. governance expectations. Best practices take on strategic
The Need for Best Practices significance as companies recognize the value that these
The increasing demand for best practices corresponds disciplines contribute to the overall landscape of IT
to companies’ requirements to be more competitive Service Management (ITSM).
while also holding down costs. IT solutions can be Technology Complexity—Services vs. Silos
differentiators in terms of operational value such as With multiple global locations and lines of business, it is
efficiency and customer service, and strategic in delivery no wonder that technology often is divided into “silos”
of new business requirements. Tactical value comes of infrastructure. Companies develop and maintain
from making a decision to do something (such as systems and applications according to IT group or
update the configuration database to reflect changes); Line Of Business (LOB)—rather than according to
©2005 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page Optimizing ITIL Best Practices with Mercury BTO
business process or service—resulting in a hodgepodge developing manageable applications, implementing
of packaged, custom and legacy applications. With their security procedures, managing projects, and managing
intrinsically narrow views of the enterprise, silos add IT infrastructure. ITIL helps companies ensure that
to the complexity of managing enterprise applications they automate efficient processes in the context of best
and create a number of management problems. The practices—to increase competitiveness.
lack of visibility across the enterprise hinders the
ITIL has already “figured out” how to deliver services in a
ability to measure service levels and the business
cost-effective and efficient manner. With its best practices,
impact of problems, obstructs managing availability
companies can streamline development and maintenance
and performance, and limits the ability to isolate and
efforts, improving TCO while helping to ensure that IT
resolve problems. Since each LOB addresses similar
deliverables represent business goals. In addition to the
management concerns—often in different ways—
demand for 24x7 availability, quality performance, financial
management efforts are duplicated, economies of scale
accountability, and regulatory compliance, companies
are lost, and any prospect of a “big picture” view of the
face increased competition and, along with it, the need to
business is negated by the lack of information sharing.
satisfy customers. Applying best practices to tactical and
ITIL best practices recommend using a collaborative operational processes in IT Service Management helps
approach to IT management that supports a business- companies to manage these issues while differentiating
process, service-oriented view of IT. In this approach, IT themselves as service-driven organizations.
seeks broad views of the underlying systems that support
Adherence to regulatory requirements such as the
the company’s business processes with the goal of
Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) requires companies to exert
ensuring that IT meets the needs of the business. Service
tight control over information flow. Effective control
Support disciplines—comprising Change Management,
of the Change Management process is essential to
Configuration Management, and Release Management—
compliance. SOX mandates that companies manage the
help companies see the intricacies of multiple systems
information stream through the organization with the
and the effect of change across the enterprise.
ultimate goal of ensuring accurate financial reporting.
On the Service Delivery side of ITIL, Service Level Satisfying compliance regulations such as SOX poses
Management adds business perspective to the delivery a tremendous expense in terms of time and money.
of IT Services, and focuses on satisfying end-users and Infusing planning and discipline into the IT management
customers while creating accountability for IT. Even processes helps companies streamline compliance
though silos will continue to exist, the SLM overlay efforts and avoid the chaos of ad hoc approaches.
applies a business perspective that helps companies be
ITIL Service Support and Service Delivery Backgrounder
more efficient in measuring, monitoring, adjusting, and
controlling systems to meet business goals. A full system ITIL emphasizes best practices in IT Service Management
view enhances root-cause diagnostics, helping IT to (ITSM), which encompasses Service Delivery and Service
isolate and resolve problems, and minimizing downtime Support disciplines. ITIL’s Service Delivery component
while increasing productivity among IT users and includes tactical processes necessary for planning and
business staff. Greater visibility helps companies assess delivering quality IT services. Service Delivery best
IT performance in terms of supporting business goals. practices address Availability Management, Capacity
Management, Service Level Management (SLM),
ITIL: The Leading Best Practice Reference for Services Service Continuity Management (contingency planning),
The ITIL process framework is a guiding methodology and Financial Management for IT services. ITIL’s
for planning, delivering and supporting IT applications Service Support component focuses on the operational
and services. ITIL is not prescriptive—it does not processes that enable companies to provide IT support
dictate how to achieve best practices. Rather, ITIL and maintenance activities on a day-to-day, around-the-
is an overall guideline that users can refer to in order clock basis. Service Support disciplines include Change
to define and refine specific IT processes that address Management, Configuration Management, Problem
their particular needs. In addition to its focus on ITSM Management, Incident Management (Service Desk), and
processes, ITIL offers guidance on best practices for Release Management (including software control and
©2005 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page Optimizing ITIL Best Practices with Mercury BTO
distribution)). Table 1 summarizes the functionality and to keep records of all IT data and to provide information
goals associated with each Service Delivery and Service to the other processes. Critical steps are the population
Support component. of the CMDB and building the relationship between all
the populated elements. The captured data can be for
One item that deserves further emphasis is the
decision support, for change impact analysis, Release
Configuration Management DataBase (CMDB). Tightly
Management verification, identifying rogue changes,
integrated with all the ITIL processes, the CMDB helps
and any number of other information processing and
to ensure quality reporting and consistent information
analysis purposes. The CMDB is a key component of the
tracking. The ITIL goal of Configuration Management is
Change-Configuration-Release Management processes.
Service Delivery Components Tactical processes
Availability management Measure and assess the availability of IT services defined in
Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
Capacity management Monitor performance, workload, resources, demand, and
other processes to determine IT service needs and ensure
efficient IT delivery.
Service level management (SLM) Identify, monitor and review IT service levels, and assess
service quality and status of Service Level Agreements
(SLAs).
Service continuity management (contingency planning) Perform risk analysis and develop disaster recovery
and business continuity plans, designed to recover IT
infrastructure and resume IT service delivery in case of
business disruption.
Financial management for IT services Assess Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) to ensure effective
acquisition of IT infrastructure and provisioning of IT
services.
Service Support Components Operational processes
Change management Ensure prompt, efficient change while minimizing the
impact of change-related incidents on service quality.
Closely linked to Configuration Management and Release
Management.
Configuration management/Configuration Management Identify IT components (configuration items) for inclusion
Database (CMDB) in the CMDB. Implement the CMDB to manage, control,
maintain, track, and verify information on IT services and
assets (including hardware, software, documentation, and
staff).
Release Management (including software control and Manage the distribution and implementation of software
distribution) configuration items in a production environment.
Problem management Identify and resolve IT problems, and take steps to prevent
recurrence of disruption to IT services.
Incident management (supported by the Service Desk Incident Management’s goal is to restore normal service as
function) quickly as possible to minimize business impact and ensure
best service levels. ITIL’s best practices for Service Desk
recommend a single point of contact for users of ITSM
functions.
Figure 1: IT Service Management Disciplines: Service Delivery and Service Support
©2005 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page Optimizing ITIL Best Practices with Mercury BTO
Managing Services from a Customer- with the effect of change on business services or
Business Perspective business alignment. The customer-business focus is
ITIL is not just about adopting best practice processes, a broader approach as it encompasses the effect of
but executing IT and business processes in the context change on both end users and customers. The adoption
of achieving business goals. Using ITIL as a guideline, of best practices combined with strategic initiatives in
common ITSM goals include: Change Management and SLM helps companies realize
the IT-business link.
• P
roviding and managing IT services that are
appropriate to an organization’s business needs, thus Managing from a customer perspective means being
aligning IT capabilities to the needs of the business. sensitive to the business needs of the customer—the
LOB Manager, VP of sales, the CIO, the external
• D
eveloping, delivering and maintaining repeatable customer. Developing and maintaining efficient services
processes that serve business needs, and also can improves quality of service and operational costs,
be modified and improved upon as business needs and supports the goal of aligning IT services with
and technology capabilities evolve. business requirements. Measuring component or system
• Improving IT efficiency to reduce operational costs. availability may or may not relate to the user experience.
Measuring the end-user experience allows IT to report
• I mproving quality of service in terms of back to customers what the business has achieved in
application quality, performance, and availability. terms of meeting SLAs.
• I mplementing and managing Service Level
Agreements (SLAs) in a cost-effective manner. Mercury Business Technology Optimization
(BTO)
Another key goal, tied to the Change Management
Mercury BTO supports a customer-business
process, is to minimize the business impact of changes
perspective—aiding strategic decisions by performing
so there are as few incidents as possible.
enterprise-wide risk analysis and business impact analysis,
Customer-Business Focus vs. measuring the effect of change, and summarizing the
User/Service-Desk Focus effects in easily understood graphical reports.
A key trend in ITIL best practices is to embrace a Mercury’s capabilities have been developed over the years,
customer-business perspective with the idea of better and expanded through acquisition (such as Appilog,
aligning technology to business needs. Managing services acquired for its application mapping technology, Kintana
from a customer-business perspective requires viewing for IT Governance capabilities, and SiteScope, for
all users as customers, and focusing on the business infrastructure monitoring). Mercury partners with third
impact of IT service and performance changes. For every parties to enhance functionality in some of the ITIL
change to application function, process or deliverable, disciplines, such as Capacity Management, Financial
companies must assess the effect in terms of overall Management, and IT Service Continuity Management.
system performance, functionality, and Service Level Mercury’s strategy is to continue to advance its functional
Agreement. Business-IT alignment requires effective scope through internal development and integration
Service Level Management, Change Management, and with best-in-class offerings. The Mercury BTO Lifecycle
related processes such as Availability Management, is illustrated in Figure 2.
Configuration Management, and Release Management.
Mapping Mercury BTO to
Customer-business focused service management ITIL Best Practices
contrasts with a common approach in which the IT
With the goal of ensuring enforceable and repeatable IT
Service Desk is central to managing IT activities. The
processes, Mercury BTO solutions map to the key ITIL
Service Desk approach is more focused on measuring
processes for ITSM. On the Service Delivery side, Mercury
system availability, responding to user requests,
BTO automates processes in SLM and Availability
maintaining system integrity, and ensuring system
Management. On the Service Support side, Mercury
uptime. The Service Desk is not necessarily concerned
©2005 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page Optimizing ITIL Best Practices with Mercury BTO
data feed, and can be used to show the effect
of IT expenditure on business objectives.
Key ITSM Capabilities
Mercury BTO provides a range of
applications that facilitates deployment of
ITIL best practices. Several BTO functions
draw on Mercury Business Availability Center
(BAC) to manage services from a business
perspective. BAC offers role-appropriate
dashboard views of enterprise-wide services.
Using BAC helps different groups to view
service levels according to their own needs,
and to manage IT from a business perspective.
BAC provides an enterprise-view of IT
Figure 2: Mercury’s BTO Lifecycle
services and supports functionality across
BTO, including transaction and infrastructure
BTO enables best practices in Change Management, monitoring capabilities, application mapping,
Configuration Management, Release Management, and diagnostics, and Service Level Management. Mercury’s
Problem Management. Mercury enables companies Configuration Management database is at the heart of
to encode processes and create executable workflows Mercury’s applications. A listing of Mercury solutions
based on custom business processes, a capability it calls that enable the following processes is given at the end
“process digitization.” Mercury has leveraged this core of this document.
capability to provide out-of-the-box workflows for the
key ITSM processes, which provides the process fabric Incident Management (Service Desk)
to automate and enforce repeatable ITIL processes. Mercury supports Incident Management through its
ITG Demand Management application. Incidents can
The Mercury Application Mapping functionality enables be managed using the flexible Demand Management
BTO users to automatically discover the IT environment platform that allows users to create and modify forms.
and to see dependencies between applications and These forms can be designed to collect incident
infrastructure. Such visibility helps in measuring business information and service requests that comes into the
availability. Mapping enables companies to access the Service Desk. Incident tickets can also be generated
CMDB to ascertain configuration items and dependencies. automatically from information from the SLM module
Mapping supports related Configuration and Change or other infrastructure management solutions. A key
Management processes, such as change impact analysis part of this capability is that the forms are connected to
and monitoring. Mapping is also the beginning phase of the workflow engine which can be used to implement
defining services in an automated way. notification and escalation procedures as well as
Mercury BTO optimizes application quality, performance, spawn problem and change requests. To jumpstart this
and availability across the application lifecycle by process implementation, Mercury’s ITSM Accelerator
embedding ITIL best practice recommendations for package (discussed further below) includes predefined
Service Delivery and support, application management, forms, workflows, portlets, and KPI metrics that serve
and business perspective. Optimization helps companies as a starting point and can be modified to meet specific
avoid automating inefficient business processes, and user requirements.
allows companies greater visibility and control of service
Change Management
levels, promotes higher quality deliverables, greater IT
Mercury BTO Change Management supports the key
efficiency, and reduced costs. With expanded capabilities
ITIL goal for Change Management, which is to ensure
in Change Management and SLM, BTO provides the
that changes to the IT infrastructure cause no disruption
control needed to manage compliance and workflow
to services and are documented appropriately. The
activities. BTO’s SLM capability works with any kind of
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Page Optimizing ITIL Best Practices with Mercury BTO
Change Management process involves a series of steps to distribution of changes and to ensure that the appropriate
initiate change, assess the risk and potential impact on the tested versions are installed. Release Management steps
business, approve the change through a predetermined are: design, build, test, train, install, and verify. When
process, implement the change, then review the effect testing, installing, and verifying changes, BTO Release
of the change. BTO Change Management helps ensure Management coordinates with the BTO Configuration
a quality procedure by providing change impact analysis Management processes. Tapping into Mercury’s historical
and monitoring, and enforcing a repeatable workflow strength in software testing, BTO Release Management
composed of the change notification, review and automates functional and performance testing of IT
approval process. The automated workflow helps to services and applications. Another key capability of
minimize risk and downtime, and improve service levels. BTO Release Management supports automated software
BTO Change Management is tightly linked to release distribution to various test and production environments.
and Configuration Management processes as well as the Automated software distribution reduces the risk of
Universal CMDB. downtime, lowers cost of distribution, and promotes a
stable production environment.
Problem Management
Mercury BTO Problem
Management supports the ITIL
goal of identifying and preventing
errors to minimize the adverse
impact of errors and to ensure the
Figure 3: Mercury Change Management Workflow stability of service levels. Problem
Management is concerned with
Configuration Management resolving the root cause of errors, and reducing the
The ITIL goal for Configuration Management is to time it takes to resolve problems. BTO automates
identify and record all IT infrastructure components, and Problem Management processes to identify, classify,
to share data with other processes. The benefit is efficient record, and diagnose problems. As with other BTO
and effective control of IT services and infrastructure. functions, Problem Management is closely linked to the
Mercury BTO Configuration Management dynamically CMDB, depending on it to help analyze changes using
discovers application and service relationships, detects comparisons of baselines and snapshots of IT services
changes in services and configuration items, and and configurations. BTO Problem Management offers
updates the CMDB accordingly. In support of Change diagnostic solutions for J2EE, .NET, and ERP/CRM
Management, BTO Configuration Management goes environments, enabling developers to drill down
through the steps of auditing, reporting, and updating into application components to isolate components,
the CMDB, establishing a baseline, and verifying perform triage, and resolve the root cause of problems.
changes against the CMDB and a software library. BTO Problem Management is a solution that the
In conjunction with Mercury’s Application Mapping Service Desk team and other support teams can use
solution, BTO Configuration Management includes to track known errors and create requests for change
discovering and mapping configuration items and (RFCs) if needed.
dependencies, and recording them in the CMDB. The
Availability Management
CMDB acts as a definitive system of record for all IT
In ITIL best practices, Availability Management
Service Management processes.
optimizes IT infrastructure and services to ensure a level
Release Management of IT service availability that meets business objectives.
Mercury BTO Release Management addresses the ITIL Mercury BTO Availability Management incorporates
requirements for software control and distribution. a real-time dashboard to assess business availability
The ITIL goal is to implement quality procedures for and performance thresholds from both end-user and
system perspectives. Real-time notification of changes
©2005 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page Optimizing ITIL Best Practices with Mercury BTO
in service availability helps companies resolve issues appropriate roles (such as CAB and Change Manager)
before customers experience problems. and business rules into the workflow. The template
implements everything that ITIL recommends for
Service Level Management
Change Management, so companies can apply their
ITIL defines SLM as “the process of defining, agreeing, own specific business rules to tailor them to their own
documenting and managing the levels of customer particular needs
IT service that are required and cost-justified,” with
the goal of maintaining and improving IT service IT Governance
quality. Through a cycle of agreeing, monitoring, and Mercury’s IT Governance Center (ITG) is an integrated
reporting on IT services, Mercury BTO Service Level suite of software, services, and best practices that
Management helps companies to proactively manage supports the governance of ITIL processes including
service levels. SLM offers real-time visibility into current the more strategic ITIL processes of Business
service levels, and enables companies to monitor Perspective and Application Management. Core ITG
and report on availability and response time. Links functions include Demand Management, Project and
to BTO Availability Management and BTO Problem Portfolio Management, and Deployment Management.
Management help companies assess service quality and It features a configurable workflow engine and the ability
the status of SLAs, resolve root cause of problems, and to digitize processes. With ITG, companies can manage
improve on services. BTO Service Level Management and monitor projects and track progress from inception
lets companies digitize business goals, transforming to delivery. ITG includes a real-time dashboard that
business objectives into executables that can be facilitates communication between IT and LOBs, and
deployed. Effective SLM minimizes SLA breaches, and offers role-based, exception-oriented views of IT.
helps companies define quantifiable service-level
Mercury takes a lifecycle approach to portfolio
objectives that reflect business requirements.
management—beginning with strategic demand and
ITSM Accelerator following through to the delivery of projects. ITG
Towards the goal of accelerating ITIL implementations, Portfolio Management enables users to run initial
the Mercury ITSM Accelerator provides out-of-the-box project ideas and proposals through a project planning
workflow templates and predefined KPIs that support cycle, which includes process review and approval. ITG
the key ITSM processes of Incident, Problem, Change, enables users to objectively compare one proposal with
Release, and Service Level Management. The ITSM another, and choose the set of projects that match
Accelerator also provides the ITIL-compliant forms business needs and fit within budget boundaries.
that collect relevant information to drive the workflows Using automated processes, the portfolio management
in a repeatable manner. Role-based dashboard views function helps companies to narrow the proposal
and reports of real-time data feeds can be viewed in field to a manageable set of viable projects. Decision
various ways—graphs, pie charts, bar charts—to show makers can then perform subjective and objective
KPIs and metrics for each process. For example, for the analysis, using a set of interfaces to perform a what-
Change Management process, Mercury offers a Change if analysis, compare ROI, measure cost-benefits, and
Management workflow template that embeds the other business considerations. Once the planning
stage is complete, projects can
be monitored and tracked. ITG
Deployment Management helps
govern the way projects are rolled
into production. Completed
projects become assets in
production, and then come
under the tactical or operational
Figure 4: Mercury SLM Process management function.
©2005 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page Optimizing ITIL Best Practices with Mercury BTO
Customizable Workflow Engine and Process Digitization based on custom rules, and then create an executable that
Business processes are digitized to create executables enforces and repeats those rules is a terrific competence.
that help to automate IT and business processes, track The downside is that companies can automate poor
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and enforce processes as well as efficient ones. However, Mercury’s
repeatable processes. Digitized workflows can be used support for ITIL best practices should help companies to
to implement tactical, operational or strategic initiatives. develop intelligent and business-appropriate applications,
As with any other data stream, the digitized processes especially with its out-of-the-box workflow templates.
can be pulled into a dashboard view or report. With its underpinnings in interactive testing and a
Managing the IT Portfolio maturing solution set that supports ITIL best practices,
Mercury’s predefined workflow and reporting templates key strengths for Mercury are its Change, Release, and
are part of the ITG Demand Management solution. Configuration Management capabilities, along with
Demand Management captures business requirements its comprehensive Service Level Management and
and uses them to digitize workflows in order to Availability Management components. Mercury’s focus
implement tactical and operational processes (“keep on Change Management and SLM has empowered its
the lights on” projects) as well as strategic initiatives. product line, and will inspire interest among companies
Strategic initiatives might include activities such as seeking value in those areas. BTO’s emphasis on
managing resources, budgets, or project portfolios. ITG optimizing application quality, performance and
Demand Management gives visibility to all sources of availability across the lifecycle ensures a high quality of
demand, and enables a single dashboard view of all types IT services.
of initiatives—tactical, operational, and strategic. The
dashboard view also offers an aggregated view of the About Mercury
entire portfolio. ITG Project and Portfolio Management Mercury’s Business Technology Optimization (BTO)
use demand management to drill-down to the level of suite of application delivery, application management
individual projects, and manage them to completion. and IT Governance solutions enables companies to
unlock the value of their IT investments by optimizing
EMA Viewpoint business and technology performance to meet business
Mercury brings strategic value to the operational and requirements. With Mercury, customers can measure
tactical processes of ITSM. Mercury enables ITIL best the quality of their IT-enabled-business processes,
practices across the lifecycle, supporting ITSM, Business maximize technology and business performance at
Perspective, and Application Management processes. every stage of the application lifecycle, and manage
Mercury treats its product lines as a “media offering,” their IT operations for continuous improvement. Our
where customers can mix and match functionality as leading-edge software and services, complemented by
appropriate. Users of Mercury BTO are likely to use technologies and services from our global business
elements of Mercury ITG and Mercury BAC. Although partners, are used by over 30,000 customers—including
Mercury’s ITIL support is not all encompassing— by 75% of the Fortune 500—to improve quality, reduce
the Service Delivery support is limited to SLM and costs, and align IT with business goals.
Availability Management—it supports most of the ITSM
disciplines and partners with other leading vendors in
providing full-bodied ITIL support.
Mercury’s focus on customer-business interaction
rather than a user-centric, Service Desk approach to
implementing ITIL is in keeping with the goal of aligning
IT with business requirements. Enterprise Management
Associates (EMA) sees Mercury’s process digitization
as an exciting capability that further supports the IT-
business link. The ability to define a business process
©2005 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page Optimizing ITIL Best Practices with Mercury BTO
Change Management ITG Demand Management
ITG Change Management
ITSM Accelerator
BAC Application Mapping
Configuration Management ITG Demand Management
ITG Change Management
BAC Application Mapping
Release Management ITG Demand Management
ITG Change Management
ITSM Accelerator
Incident Management ITG Demand Management
ITSM Accelerator
BAC End User Management
BAC System Availability Management
Problem Management ITG Demand Management
ITSM Accelerator
BAC End User Management
BAC System Availability Management
BAC Application Mapping
Mercury Diagnostics
Availability Management Performance Center Tuning
Performance Center Capacity Planning
BAC End User Management
BAC System Availability Management
BAC Application Mapping
Mercury Diagnostics
Service Level Management ITSM Accelerator
BAC Service Level Management
BAC End User Management
BAC System Availability Management
BAC Application Mapping
Figure 5: Enabling ITIL Processes with Mercury BTO solutions
©2005 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page About Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. is the fastest-growing analyst firm focused on the management
software and services market. EMA brings strategic insights to both vendors and IT professionals
seeking to leverage areas of growth across e-business, network, systems, and application management.
Enterprise Management Associates’ vision and insights draw from its ongoing research and the
perspectives of an experienced team with diverse, real-world backgrounds in the IT, service provider,
ISV, and publishing communities, and is frequently requested to share their observations at management
forums worldwide.
Corporate Headquarters:
Enterprise Management Associates Phone: 303.543.9500
2585 Central Avenue, Suite 100 Fax: 303.543.7687
Boulder, CO 80301, U.S.A. info@enterprisemanagement.com
www.enterprisemanagement.com
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