How to reconcile ITIL and DevOps

Sylvain Révéreault

I'm an Ops

  • GNU/Linux administrator
  • System integration
  • Consultant & trainer (Cloud, DevOps)
  • DevOps enthusiast

 

"The" question:

But we already "are" ITIL, isn't DevOps incompatible?
(And why would we need DevOps if we already are ITIL?)

Client's IT manager

The (lost ?) goals of ITIL

ITIL (...) is a set of practices for IT service management (ITSM) that focuses on aligning IT services with the needs of business.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITIL

The (lost ?) goals of ITIL

ITIL describes processes, procedures, tasks, and checklists (...) for establishing integration with the organization's strategy, delivering value, (...)

It allows the organization to establish a baseline from which it can plan, implement, and measure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITIL

Sounds familiar?

  • Aligning IT with business
  • Delivering value
  • Plan, implement and measure

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

The ITIL lifecylce

Image Source: Unknown

Service Strategy

  • Strategy Management: focuses on serving customers... a good place to think about metrics
  • Demand Management: understand and anticipate customer demand, input for capacity management

Value = Utility + Warranty

Service Design

  • Capacity, availability, security: dealing with Ops needs in the design phase
  • Architecture Management: use it to align software architecture and system architecture

Service Transition

  • Service Validation and Testing: functional & technical testing, a nice place for automation
  • Knowledge Management: share, share, share

Service Transition: Change Management

When the wind of change blows, some people build walls, others build windmills.

Ancient Chinese Proverb

Change Management defines 3 types of change:

  • Emergency change: a specific workflow, mainly for urgent bug corrections and security patches
  • Standard change: a recurrent, well known, relatively risk-free change
  • Normal change: everything else (this is an heavy process, with formal request for change, change advisory board, ...

Change standardization is the key

This is what makes you a windwill builder

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Use automation and reproducibility to achieve this standardization

Service Operation

  • Event & Incident management: think "metrics", embrace Dev & Ops cooperation
  • Problem Management: must be carried by both Ops & Devs

Ticketing tools should be used for traceability, not to replace communication!

Continual Service Improvement

Image Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDCA

Conclusion

A "static" ITIL implementation is probably a wrong ITIL implementation

Fast moving business implies Fast moving ITIL.

ITIL needs DevOps: end to end agility, production ready applications

Conclusion

ITIL is DevOps compatible, you "just" need to apply the DevOps principles

Don't mistake ticketing tools for communication tools

Image Source: Know Your Meme

Conclusion

Culture is hard, start with behavior...

Kris Buytaert, Patrick Debois


CAMS => SMAC

Conclusion

  • Share: involve Dev & Ops in every process
  • Metrics: use them to answer ITIL traceabilty requirements
  • Automation: use whenever possible, especially to standardize your changes
  • Culture: rely on ITIL's service oriented culture, improve with all of the above

Questions?