Acquire and Maintain Technology Infrastructure

AI3

M ANAGEMENT G UIDELINES

Goals and Metrics

PO3 Technology infrastructure plan, standards and opportunitites;

regular ‘state of technology’ updates PO8 Acquisition and development

standards

PO10 Project management guidelines and detailed project plans

AI1 Business requirements feasibility study AI6 Change process description

DS3 Performance and capacity plan (requirements)

Procurement decisions AI5

Configured system to be tested/installed AI7 Physical environment requirements DS12 Updates for technology standards PO3 System monitoring requirements DS3

Infrastructure knowledge AI4

Initial planned operating level agreements DS1 (OLAs)

• Number and type of emergency changes to the infrastructure components

• Number of outstanding acquisition requests

• Average time to configure infrastructure components

• Number of critical business processes supported by obsolete (or soon-to-be-obsolete) infrastructure

• Percent of platforms that are not in line with the defined IT architecture and technology standards

• Number of different technology platforms by function across the enterprise

• Percent of infrastructure components acquired outside the acquisition process

• Number of infrastructure components that are no longer supportable (or will not be in the near future)

Activities

• Producing a technology acquisition plan that aligns to the technology

infrastructure plan

• Planning infrastructure maintenance

• Providing development and test environment infrastructure

• Implementing internal control, security and auditability measures

• Acquire and maintain an integrated and standardised IT infrastructure.

• Optimise the IT infrastructure, resources and capabilities.

• Create IT agility.

Process

• Provide appropriate platforms for the business applications in line with the defined IT architecture and technology standards.

• Provide a reliable and secure IT infrastructure.

Activities

RACI Chart Functions

CEO CFO Business ExecutiveCIO Business Process OwnerHead Oper ations

Chief Ar chitect

Head DevelopmentHead IT Administr ation

Define strategy and plan maintenance for infrastructure. A R R R C

Configure the infrastructure components. A R C I

A RACI chart identifies who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and/or Informed.

AI3 Acquire and Maintain Technology Infrastructure

Acquire and Implement

Acquire and Maintain Technology Infrastructure AI3

From Inputs Outputs To

measure drive measure drive measure

set set

GoalsMetrics

AI3 Acquire and Maintain Technology Infrastructure

Management of the process of Acquire and maintain technology infrastructure that satisfies the business requirement for IT of acquiring and maintaining an integrated and standardised IT infrastructure is:

0 Non-existent when

Managing the technology infrastructure is not recognised as a sufficiently important topic to be addressed.

1 Initial/Ad Hocwhen

There are changes made to infrastructure for every new application, without any overall plan. Although there is an awareness that the IT infrastructure is important, there is no consistent overall approach. Maintenance activity reacts to short-term needs. The production environment is the test environment.

2 Repeatable but Intuitive when

There is a consistency amongst tactical approaches when acquiring and maintaining the IT infrastructure. Acquisition and maintenance of IT infrastructure are not based on any defined strategy and do not consider the needs of the business applications that must be supported. There is an understanding that the IT infrastructure is important, supported by some formal practices. Some maintenance is scheduled, but it is not fully scheduled and co-ordinated. For some environments, a separate test environment exists.

3 Defined when

A clear, defined and generally understood process exists for acquiring and maintaining IT infrastructure. The process supports the needs of critical business applications and is aligned to IT and business strategy, but it is not consistently applied. Maintenance is planned, scheduled and co-ordinated. There are separate environments for test and production.

4 Managed and Measurable when

The acquisition and maintenance process for technology infrastructure has developed to the point where it works well for most situations, is followed consistently and is focused on reusability. The IT infrastructure adequately supports the business applications.

The process is well organised and proactive. The cost and lead time to achieve the expected level of scalability, flexibility and integration are partially optimised.

5 Optimised when

The acquisition and maintenance process for technology infrastructure is proactive and closely aligned with critical business applications and the technology architecture. Good practices regarding technology solutions are followed, and the organisation is aware of the latest platform developments and management tools. Costs are reduced by rationalising and standardising infrastructure components and by using automation. A high level of technical awareness can identify optimum ways to proactively improve performance, including consideration of outsourcing options. The IT infrastructure is seen as the key enabler to leveraging the use of IT.

M ATURITY M ODEL

Acquire and Implement

Acquire and Maintain Technology Infrastructure

AI3

P ROCESS D ESCRIPTION

Control over the IT process of Enable operation and use

that satisfies the business requirement for IT of

ensuring satisfaction of end users with service offerings and service levels and seamlessly integrating applications and technology solutions into business processes

by focusing on

providing effective user and operational manuals and training materials to transfer the knowledge necessary for successful system operation and use

is achieved by

• Developing and making available knowledge transfer documentation

• Communicating and training users, business management, support staff and operational staff

• Producing training materials and is measured by

• Number of applications where IT procedures are seamlessly integrated into business processes

• Percent of business owners satisfied with application training and support materials

• Number of applications with adequate user and operational support training

In document COBIT 4.1 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Page 83-86)