Introduction and Overview

1. Analyzing and exploring the importance of the Service Capability stream

2. Service Management as a practice

3. The Service value proposition

4. How the Release, Control and Validation capabilities support the Service Lifecycle

Core Release, Control and Validation Processes

1. Change Management

2. Purpose, goals and objectives

3. Implementing change with minimum disruption and rework

4. Evaluating business, technical and financial aspects

5. Achieving successful service transition

6. Activities, methods and techniques

7. Post-implementation review

8. Key metrics to measure success

Service Asset and Configuration Management

1. Business value of monitoring service transition

2. Activities, methods and techniques

3. Establishing configuration baselines

4. Correlating IT services with need components

5. Tracking and reporting asset values

6. Establishing metrics that measure success

Service Validation and Testing

1. How Service Validation and Testing creates business value

2. Assuring transition integrity and quality

3. The Service V Model

4. Fit for purpose : Fit for Use

5. Acquiring relevant test data

Release and Deployment Management

1. Analyzing how services are released into production to enable effective use of services

2. Planning, scheduling and controlling releases

3. Moving to the live environment

4. Illustrating the main activities and how they relate to the capability of Release, Control and Validation

5. Maintaining information on service deployment

6. Defining metrics for process quality

Request Fulfillment and Service Evaluation

1. Analyzing how service requests should be handled

2. Avoiding congestion and obstruction of the normal incident and change management processes

3. Process scope and objectives

4. The triggers, input and output of request fulfillment

Evaluating services against target performance in the context of change

1. Meeting committed service level performance

2. Activities, methods and techniques

3. Key metrics to measure success

Knowledge Management

1. Purpose, goals and objectives

2. Enhancing decision support

3. Activities, methods and techniques

4. Establishing metrics to measure service delivery quality

Roles and Responsibilities

1. Change management

2. Service asset and configuration management

3. Service validation and testing

4. Release and deployment

5. Service desk (fulfillment) and service evaluation

Technology and Implementation Considerations

1. Technology as part of implementing service management

2. Special technology features related to Release, Control and Validation

3. Generic requirements and evaluation criteria

4. Good practices for implementation

5. Challenges, critical success factors and risks

Common Service Activities

1. Service monitoring and control

2. Deming cycle

3. CSI techniques

Continual Service Improvement

1. The relationship of CSI in respect to organizational change

2. Implementing an effective CSI program

3. Service reporting

4. Cost benefit justification