Event Management ITIL V 3 Service Operation Processes

Event Management & ITIL V 3

Service Operation Processes Service Desk Technical Support Groups Event Management Request Fulfillment Access Management Incident Management Problem Management

Service Operation Event Management

Event Management The process that monitors all events that occur through the IT infrastructure to allow for normal service operation and to detect and escalate exceptions. Effective service support relies on know the status of the infrastructure and detecting any deviation from normal or expected operation. This can be provided by good monitoring and control systems, which are based on two types of tools: • Active monitoring tools that monitor key CI’s to determine their status and availability. • Passive monitoring tools that detect and correlate operational alerts or communications generated by CI’s.

Terminology Event Alert Trigger

Scope Event Management can be applied to any aspect of Service Management that needs to be controlled and can be automated. E. g. • • • Configuration Items Environmental conditions Software license monitoring Security Normal activity

Different types of event There are different types of event: § Events that signify regular operation • • Notifications that a scheduled workload has completed A user has logged in to use an application An email has reached its intended recipient § Events that signify an exception • • User attempts to log on to an application with the incorrect password Unusual situation has occurred in a business process that may indicate an exception requiring further business investigation Device’s CPU is above the acceptable utilization rate § Events that signify unusual, but not exceptional, operation • Server’s memory utilization reaches within 5% of its highest acceptable performance level Completion time of a transaction is 100% longer than normal • • •

Event Management - Activities Event Occurs Event Notification Alert Event Filtering Significance of events Event Correlation Trigger Response Selection Review Actions Close Event

Event Occurs Events occur continuously, but not all of them are detected or registered. It is therefore important that everybody involved in designing, developing, managing and supporting IT services and the IT Infrastructure that they run on understands what types of event need to be detected. Event Occurs

Event notification Most CI’s are designed to communicate certain information about themselves on one of two ways: • • A device is interrogated by a management tool, which collects certain targeted data. Often referred to as ‘polling’. The CI generates a notification when certain conditions are met. The ability to produce these notifications has to be designed and built into the CI. Event Notification

Alert / Event detection Once an Event notification has been generated, it will be detected by an agent running on the same system, or transmitted directly to a management tool specifically designed to read and interpret the meaning of the event. Alert

Event Filtering The purpose of filtering is to decide what is the best course of action to take e. g. • Communicate the event to a management tool • Ignore it, if this is the case the event will need to be recorded. Events need to be filtered as it is not always possible to turn event notifications off. During the filtering activity, the first level of correlation is performed Event Filtering

Significance of events Every organization will have its own method and criteria for categorizing the significance of an event, the following are three broad category suggestions: • • • Informational Warning Exception Significance of events

Event correlation Correlation is normally done by a ‘Correlation Engine’, part of a management tool that compares the event with a set of criteria and relies in prescribed order. These criteria are often referred to as Business Rules, but are generally quite technical. The idea is that the event may represent some impact on the business and the rules can be used to determine the level and type of business impact. Event Correlation

Trigger If the correlation activity recognizes an event, a response will be required. The mechanism used to initiate that response is called a trigger. There are many different types of triggers, each designed specifically for the task it has to initiate. E. g. • • • Incident triggers. Change triggers. A trigger resulting from an approved RFC that has been implemented but caused the event or an unauthorized change that has been detected. Paging systems that will notify a person of the event by mobile phone. Database triggers that restrict access of a user to specific records. Trigger

Response selection At this point in the process, there a number of response options available. Difference organizations will have different options. E. g. There will be a range of responses for each different technology. Response Selection

Review actions With so many events occurring on a daily basis, it is not possible to review each one individually. However, it is essential to check any significant events or exceptions have been handled correctly, track trends etc In most cases this can be done automatically. Review Actions

Close Event Some events remain open until specific actions take place e. g. an event that is linked to an open incident. However, most events are not opened or closed. • • • Informational events are logged Auto-response events will typically be closed by the generation of a second event. In the case of events that have generated an incident, problem or change, these will be formerly closed with a link to the appropriate record from the other processes. Close Event

Information Management • SNMP messages, which are a standard way of communicating technical information about the status of components of an IT infrastructure. • Management Information Bases of IT devices • Vendor's monitoring tools agent software • Correlation Engines • Event Records.

Value to the business The value to the business of implementing the Event Management process is generally indirect, but it is possible to determine the basis for its value. E. g. • It provides mechanisms for early detection of incidents. • It enables some types of automation activity to be monitored by exception. • Signal status changes or exceptions that allow the appropriate person or team to perform early response. • Provides a basis for automated operations, thus increasing efficiency and allowing human resources to be better utilized.

Metrics • • # of events by category and significance # and % of events that required human intervention and whether this was performed # and % of events that resulted in incidents and changes # and % of events caused by existing problems and known errors. # and % of repeated or duplicated events. # and % of events indicating performance issues and potential availability issues. # and % of each type of event per platform or application # and ratio of events compared with the number of incidents.

Challenges • Initial challenge in obtaining funding for necessary tools and effort required. • Setting the correct level of filtering. • Rolling out necessary monitoring agents across the entire IT infrastructure can be difficult and time consuming – required ongoing commitment. • Acquiring the necessary skills.

CSF’s In order to obtain the necessary funding a compelling Business Case should be prepared showing how the benefits of effective Event Management can far outweigh the costs – giving a positive return on investment. One of the most important CSF’s is achieving the correct level of filtering. This is complicated by the fact that the significance of events changes. E. g. a user logging into a system today is normal, but if that user leaves the organization and tries to log in is it a security breach.

Risks • Failure to obtain adequate funding • Ensuring the correct level of filtering • Failure to maintain momentum in rolling out the necessary monitoring agents across the IT infrastructure.