A recent availability and capacity workshop hosted by the Corporate IT Forum on 9th December was well attended by 22 highly qualified delegates from a broad cross sections of business sectors.

 The following Top Tips were thought to be of particular relevance to CIO’s:

Principles

There are two pre-requisites for effective Capacity Management/Availability Management:

knowledge of business requirements and plans in detail

understanding of how important Capacity Management/Availability Management issues is (are) to the business

It’s therefore essential to encourage the business leaders to do their planning

Using industry standard frameworks (mainly ITIL)

A significant benefit of ITIL is that it provides a common language and understanding within IT, and the basis for communication to/with the business about issues. But it doesn’t happen automatically

• using ITIL is not all-or-nothing; selective adoption is viable
• but the selected elements need to be in use and understood IT-wide
• it’s essential therefore to resource training (a) at roll-out for existing staff and (b) ongoing for new joiners

Business Case and Strategy

A “headroom” policy needs to be agreed at the highest level. This avoids repeated discussion about the need to fund additional resources when capacity thresholds are reached.

If your IT organisation has Service Relationship Managers whose role is to spearhead the two-way relationship with the business, they must be briefed and trained to handle Capacity Management/Availability Management issues as part of this role.

Organisation

A centralised Capacity Management/Availability Management organisation may be the best, but clear accountability (named individuals) for the crucial deliverables is essential in any model.

Governance, monitoring and measurement
Simple clear reporting, for example RAG charts in business terms, are the best way to report to and engage the business. As understanding deepens, the more detailed dialogue becomes possible.

The CIO needs to be proactive in reporting to the Board and in supporting use/resourcing of Capacity Management/Availability Management. “Preparation – preparation – preparation”: make sure data gathering and reporting are in place before you may need them (e.g. to support funding requests or to discuss response to an incident).