Service Analyser

 

Service Management and User-Based Accounting for Services for IT-Organizations and Shared Services Centers

 

Big Picture

 

Tool for the IT-Service-Management

 

IT-Service-Management (ITSM) characterizes the collectivity of measures and methods that are needed to achieve the best possible support of business-processes by the IT-organization.

The Service Analyzer covers in the ITSM from service design, including calculation, acknowledgment and reporting to accounting and communication all customer oriented processes.

 

The typical users are IT-Organization-Units and Shared Services Center.

 

 

Conformity with the ITIL-Standards

The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) it a collection of best practices or rather good practices in a set of publications that describe a possible realization of an IT-Service-Managements (ITSM). For that, it is regarded to be an interna-tional De-facto-Standard. The Service Analyzer is strictly guided by the ITIL-Standards. The databases, functions and processes comply in terminology and function with the specifications of ITIL V3.

 

Connector between Cost and Service

The Service Analyzer is an extension to the ERP-systems. It is a connector between the cost-elements and the ser-vice-elements on one side and the controlling-objects on the other side.

The controlling-objects are basically neutral „containers“. They can be used as cost-container and/or service-container for a defined task (e.g. in the contract-controlling, in IT-controlling or in business-process-controlling).

The cost– and service-elements are represented in the Service Analyzer as service-elements. These elements structure the business-services and ensure the connection to the calculated operating figures. Every service-element can be used simultaneously in different controlling-objects. Thus one operating figure (e.g. frequency of a defined action) can be used simultaneously as cost-element (effective costs) und as service-element (amount times price) in multiple controlling-objects.

 

 

Service Portal

 

Das Service Portal is the interface between the service-consumers and the service-providers. It provides all for the service-consumer relevant information and functions.

 

Typically the Service Portal is integrated in the web-interface of the service-provider.

 

Business Service Catalog

A service catalog contains all information to the (by the service-provider) actually provided services (Source ITIL). On the contrary to infrastructure services a business service supports directly a business-process of the service-customer.

The business service catalog of the Service Analyzers describes especially the functions, typical applications and the use for the business-processes of the service-customers. Thereby it puts the customer in a position where he can detect and realize optimizing potentials.

 

Business Service Monitor

The Service Monitor of the Service Analyzers monitors and protocols the state of all services and matching service-elements of the service-provider. The Business Service Monitor focuses on the for the service-consumer relevant business services. Thereby the purpose is not only to measure the agreed service-level goals (availability, etc.) but as well to allow the service-provider at all times to have an up to date detailed overview (service inventory) over his services. Besides the permanent monitoring of the service-quality it allows as well the revision and optimizing of the individual service-elements.

 

Service Desk

The Service Desk serves the Incident– and Request-Management. It is a module of our Information Manager. The Information Manager it a comprehensive and very flexible configurable tool for the execution of all processes in the IT Service Management. The Service Analyzer and the Information Manager are fully integrated and complement each other ideal.

 

 

Naming & Numbering Organizer

The Naming & Numbering Organizer it the central element to organize the assignment for the customer-specific settings in the SAP-systems. It regulates the identification-attributes (Key– and search-fields) for the customizing and for the relevant fields of the master– and transaction-data of the different sub-organization-units. In the Service Analyzer it is the basis for the recognition of customer-specific services and the creation of data-extracts and operating figures.

 

Agreement Portfolio, Agreement Planer & Invoice Monitor

The Agreement Portfolio and the Agreement Planer cover the functions for the agreement design, the planning and the acknowledgement-process. The Invoice Monitor provides the for the billing relevant information.

 

Agreement Planer

The Agreement Planer serves the planning of allocation bases. It visualizes to that purpose the in the comparison period measured (if available) actual-amounts, allows due to drill-down functions their detailed analysis and modi-fication of the planned values.

 

 

Target-Quantity, Operating-Figures and Service Object Adjustments

Per service-element, the target-quantity can be adjusted, a status can be set and a comment can be added.

In the detail view to each operating-figure the feedback-function allows the creation of a workflow-message with direct reference to individual source objects.

 

 

Service-Design, -Calculation und –Billing

 

Service -> Service Element -> Operating Figures

The Service is the leading structuring-element. Its service-elements are summarized in groups an organized hierarchically. The standard-main-groupings in the Service Analyzer are called Services (Work), Information-Systems (Software, etc.) and Information-Technology (Hardware).

Every service-element ensures the link to an Operating Figure and the respective data-extract. If the service-element is used as cost-element or as effort-element depends on the purpose of the attached control-ling-object and the type of the operating figures.

The operating figures are represented by a calculated operating figures value and the corresponding detail-information. The detail-information are selected by the reading of 1 to n data-sets. The applied selection-conditions are generated every time out of the current customizing. This generation method is another important element to ensure the needed efficiency.

 

Controlling Objects

The controlling-objects are basically neutral „containers“. They can be used as cost-container and/or service-container for a defined task (e.g. in the contract-controlling, in IT-controlling or in business-process-controlling).

A controlling-object can include 1 to n services. While a service is primarily structured by its service-elements, the controlling-objects take care of the temporal structure of the life cycle (development, operations, revitalization) and / or the theme specific views.

 

Service Calculator & Controlling Object Calculator

The Service Calculator it the tool for the calculation of the business services and the infrastructure services.

Already during the design phase of a service it allows the rating of the efficiency by providing the calculation of the planned costs and revenues. The Service Calculator allows cross-controlling-object analyses and calculations where the service is in the focus.

The Controlling Object Calculator is the tool for the calculation of agreements, of transactions (studies, projects, etc.) and of processes. Already in the planning– /offer-phase it allows the targeted structuring and calculations of the controlling-object. By the possibility to adapt the cost– and service-structure evolutionary, the complete life cycle of the controlling-object is supported.

 

Invoice Calculator

The Invoice Calculator is the tool for the calculation of invoices which can be billed based on the contractual rela-tions (SLA‘s, project agreements, service agreement, etc.). It is based on the results of the object calculator and includes all billing relevant settings in the controlling objects and the service elements.

 

Naming & Numbering Organizer

Essential for the efficiency and quality is the replacement of as many manual tasks by automated functions as possi-ble. Especially the linkage and calculation of operating figures has to be designed efficiently. The Service Designer follows a top -> down approach. Through the consistent integration of our Naming & Numbering Organizers it is achieved, to generate the selection conditions and the calculation method of the operating figures with minimal manual effort.

 

Logical Architecture

 

Customers

The information to the service-consumers are managed in the customer portfolio. The Service Analyzer is in this domain the ERP– and CRM-systems upstream or downstream tool. Only the information are being managed which are essential for the core function of the Service Analyzers and for the integration of the peripheral systems.

Agreements and Billing

The agreements are represented as controlling objects in the Service Analyzer. Besides the dimension agreements-controlling are the controlling-dimensions business-process-controlling and IT-controlling usable.

The in the agreements (service level agreements, service agreements, projects) agreed services, trigger tipically the billing process. The bills can be based on planned or on current figures. The periodicity of the billing is arbi-trary.

 

Business Services und Service Elements

The Business Services are structured by three service-groups (work, software and technology), service-element-groups and service-elements. From the service-consumers point of view the service-elements represent relevant operating figures regarding the service and cost.

The service-elements connect the „business-view“ of the services (price and structure) with the „technology-view“ (data collections, selection conditions, data extracts) of the service and cost-measuring.

 

Data Extracts

Data extracts provide the information for operating figures. On the selection of 1 to n data collections a defined number of hits and an operating figure value calculated based on the hits is generated.

Data Collections

Data collections are the containers for the information of the source systems. Via different selection techniques source information are read and saved per source system.

 

Data Sources

The source of the data can be located on different system types. While for the access to an SAP-system a Remote Function Call (RFC) is typically used, the communication to NonSAP-systems can be carried out for example via TCP-IP.

Efficiency by Automation

 

The operation of the IT Service Managements must be designed as efficient as possible.

The design and the calculation of the offered services are essential for the operating efficiency of an IT-organizational-unit. The tasks in this area demand competence, persistence and creativity.

Through a maximum of automation of the labor-intense tasks the Service Analyzer offers the necessary time mar-gin. Our experience shows that especially in the following areas the highest efficiency by automation of procedures is requested:

 

• Collection of data in the source systems and storing it in databases
• Extraction of data out of data collections for the calculation of operating figures
• Assignment of the operating figures to the service elements (clearing line items) in the agreements
• Creation and Agreement of recurring Agreements

 

Data Collector

The Data Collectors job is to read data from any source and to make it available for all following data processing steps through a standardized interface.

Through simplicity and flexibility using three different selection methods the Service Analyzer guarantees minimal effort for the development of the data access:

• Dynamic Table Access Goal of the Dynamic Table Access is to allow the access on any source-object in the entire system landscape by minimal effort and without ABAP-development. With this method the SQL-access is not programmed but speci-fied by definitions in customizing-tables. The effort for the information gathering in the source system is drasti-cally reduced.
• Coded Table Access Goal of the Coded Table Access is to provide the data gathering for current operating figures already in the base-configuration of the Service Analyzers. About 20 different collectors (user, dialog, workload, etc.) are provided. The corresponding collectors are programmed in ABAP.
• File Upload Goal of the File Uploads is to be able to read any number of flat-files into the databases of the Service Analyzers. The individual datasets may contain any number of fields. The structure of the upload-file is defined in the cus-tomizing by identifying the sequence and the format of the fields. The Data Collector saves the data as struc-tured information in the databases.

 

The development of customer specific collectors is for all three selection methods not only smoothly possible but as well essential part of the data gathering concept of the Service Analyzers.

By the automation and standardization of the procedures in the Data Collector (dialog and background processing) manual tasks can be reduced and the quality increased.

 

Source Object Identification Generator

The Source Object Identification Generators job is to analyze the in the Service Designer defined specifications and to generate the customizing for the selection condition as preliminary stage of the Data Extractor. That way a fur-ther stage of efficiency increase represents the elimination of manual tasks..

 

Data Extractor

The Data Extractors job is to select specific information from data collections an to calculate operating figures with that information. (e.g. the number of users in an organizational unit with the details of the single users)

Thus per Data Extractor has to be defined which data collections to read, which data to select and how the calcula-tions of operating figures have to be carried out. The Service Analyzer follows here a unique approach.

• All selection-conditions and calculation-specifications are defined exclusively by customizing.
• The SQL-access is extended at runtime by the currently available customizing.
• The customizing is carried out on several stages considering inherited values.

 

The in the Service Analyzer used methods guarantee highest efficiency on the generation of operating figures.