Planning correctly, obviously has a direct correlation to effective release and deployment of services into production. Capacity and resources must be carefully considered and planned, to enable us to build, release, test and deploy those services. We want to be able to handle high volumes of change and release across our customer base. Transition helps us achieve this.
Firstly, we take the outputs from the Service Design phase. We use models and specifications to map architectural overviews of the transition plan. We assign roles and responsibilities. The service design package (SDP) already provides us with details on how the service components must be assembled and integrated into a release package.
We create a Service Transition plan that describes- Work environment for transition
- Milestones and delivery dates - when will the service be in operation
- Various tasks and activities to be performed
- Resource requirements for each stage of the plan
- Issues and risks
- Possibly contingency plans in case of unexpected events
During the support phase of transition we closely monitor service to capture issues, risks and divergence and report these to key decision makers and stakeholders. We use knowledge transfer to make sure the right people are informed at the right time. Making strong, informed decisions at the transition stage, can enhance a service providers ability to delivery value.
At the end of the day, the planning stage of Transition is there to ensure that the visions and the goals of the organisation that were identified during Service Strategy, and the models and outputs from Service Design, are realized in Service Operation. Transition is piecing those parts of the jigsaw together by providing a
seamless flow of information and connected thinking.
During Transition planning and support we:- Take design and operation requirements and mould them into transition plans
- Manage support activities
- Manage changes, risks, issues and divergence
- Communicate with customers, users and stakeholders
See also- SLA - Service Level Agreement
- SLR - Service Level Requirement
- UC - Underpinning Contract
- VBF - Vital Business Function
- VOI - Value on investment