Below are a series of questions that will assist with determining areas where Capacity Management may need to focus attention to improve its maturity. I would suggest that a marking scheme is established to so that it is possible to determine the following:
- No focus or effort has been provided to date
- Some work has been undertaken but further work is required
- Work is deemed complete
We hope this helps and would welcome any feedback you may have and are prepared to share with the ITILnews community.
| Is Capacity Management well defined? |
| Is there an agreed scope for Capacity Management? |
| Is there a Capacity Management Policy? |
| Is there a Capacity Manager? |
| If a Capacity Manager does not exist, have responsibilities for Capacity Management activities been assigned? |
| Is the Capacity Management process 'owned' by anyone specifically within the organisation? |
| Are there mechanisms for monitoring and reviewing the Capacity Management process? |
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| Is the 'Resource Capacity Management' sub-process well defined? |
| Is there a documented Resource Capacity process? |
| Is there a process to analyse resilience of the infrastructure? |
| Are the objectives for the monitoring of resource capacity clearly defined? |
| Is there a distinction between the data collected to monitor capacity (e.g. throughput) and performance (e.g. Response times)? |
| Are thresholds set? |
| Is collected data analysed? |
| Is data analysed over different time periods? |
| Is tuning undertaken as a result of resource capacity monitoring? |
| If tuning is undertaken what techniques are employed? |
| Is there a documented process for the implementation of capacity tuning activities? |
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| Is the 'Service Capacity Management' sub-process well defined? |
| Is there a documented Service Capacity sub-process? |
| Are there clearly defined objectives for the monitoring of service capacity? |
| Is Service response time monitoring undertaken? Describe |
| Is there a mechanism for informing the Service Level Manager of breaches to an SLA. |
| Are Service Capacity reports routinely provided to senior IT Management? |
| Are Service Capacity reports routinely provided to Customers? |
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| Is the 'Business Capacity Management' sub-process well defined? |
| Are the future business requirements for IT service resources understood? |
| Are the sources of information for business capacity requirements identified? |
| Is there routine contact between Capacity Management and Service Level Management? |
| Is Business Capacity Management involved in the design of new services? |
| Is there routine contact between Capacity Management and Configuration Management? |
| Is a Business Capacity Management report produced for IT and business management? |
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| How well is Capacity data managed? |
| Is a Capacity Management Database used to store capacity data? |
| Is there a process to collect business data? |
| Is there a process to collect service data? |
| Is there a process to collect technical data? |
| Is there a process to collect financial data? |
| Is there a process to collect utilisation data? |
| Is output from the Capacity Management Database easily available for analysis? |
| Are service and component based reports produced? |
| Is exception reporting undertaken? |
| Are capacity forecasts produced? |
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| How well is demand management defined? |
| Is there a defined policy for the use of demand management? |
| Is 'short term' demand management undertaken? |
| Is 'long term' demand management undertaken? |
| Are physical or financial constraints used to influence IT usage? |
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| How well are modelling activities undertaken? |
| Is trend analysis performed? |
| Is any analytical modelling undertaken? |
| Is any simulation modelling undertaken? |
| Is any baseline modelling undertaken? |
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| How well is the Capacity Plan defined? |
| Is a Capacity Plan produce? |
| Is the Capacity Plan updated regularly? |
| Is the Capacity Plan produced prior to the organisations budget cycle? |
| Is the Capacity Plans contents and format consistent? |
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| To what degree are tools used to support Capacity Management? |
| What tools are used for Capacity Management? Describe what is used. |
| Were the tool specifications based on the process requirements? |
| Are the tools integrated? If so how? |
| Is tool usage documented and controlled? |
| Do the tools meet the needs of Capacity Management? |
| Do the tools generate standard reports? |
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| Are there effective relationships with other IT Service Management disciplines? |
| Is there a link between the Incident Management group and the Capacity Management function? |
| Are there feeds from Problem Management to Capacity Management re known errors, and proactive problem management? |
| Is Capacity Management represented at CAB meetings? |
| Does Capacity Management provide performance data for Release Management? |
| Is there a defined relationship between Capacity Management data and the attributes of Configuration Item's in the Configuration Management Data Base (CMDB)? |
| Are capacity targets included in SLA's? |
| Is there a link between Capacity Management and Financial Management for IT Services to ensure the economic provision of services? |
| Is there an interface between Capacity Management and IT Service Continuity Management? |
| Is there a link in place between Capacity Management and Availability Management? |
| Is there a link between the Service Desk and the Capacity Management function? |
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| Are Capacity Management KPI's/Quality Measures used? |
| What metrics are used to judge the efficiency and effectiveness of Capacity Management? |
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| Are Capacity Management Responsibilities well defined? |
| If there is a Capacity Manager do they have an appropriate role description? |
| If Capacity Management responsibilities are included within other functional roles, are all responsibilities apportioned? |
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| Does the following Documentation exist |
| Capacity Management Policy |
| Capacity Management Process |
| Capacity Management Procedures |
| Capacity Plan template |
| Capacity Manager Roles and Responsibilities |
| Training Manual |
| Key Performance Indicators report |