Service Portfolio Management
Objective: The objective of ITIL Service Portfolio Management is to manage the service portfolio. This ITIL process ensures that the service provider has the right mix of services to meet required business outcomes at an appropriate level of investment.
Part of: Service Strategy
Process Owner: Service Portfolio Manager
Process Description
Managing services as a portfolio is a new concept in ITIL. ITIL V3 introduces the process for managing the Service Portfolio at the strategic level.
Following the introduction of the Strategy Management for IT Services process in ITIL 2011, Service Portfolio Management has been re-focused to cover activities more closely associated with managing the Service Portfolio. The process overview of Service Portfolio Management (.JPG) shows the key information flows (see Fig. 1).
Sub-Processes
These are the ITIL Service Portfolio Management sub-processes and their process objectives:
Define and Analyze new or changed Services
- Process Objective: To define the desired outcomes of a proposed new or changed service, analyze the impacts on existing services in the Service Portfolio, and determine the assets required to offer the service.
Approve new or changed Services
- Process Objective: To submit a formal Change Proposal to Change Management, and to initiate the design stage for the new or changed service if the Change Proposal is authorized.
Service Portfolio Review
- Process Objective: To assess the Service Portfolio at regular intervals in order to ensure the service provider offers economically viable services which are aligned with the Service Strategy. This process also keeps the Service Portfolio up to date.
Definitions
The following ITIL terms and acronyms (information objects) are used in the Service Portfolio Management process to represent process outputs and inputs:
Change Proposal
- A Change Proposal describes a proposed major Change, like the introduction of a new service or a substantial change to an existing service. The purpose of Change Proposals is to communicate a proposed major Change and assess its risk, impact and feasibility before design activities begin. Change Proposals are typically created in Service Portfolio Management.
Service Charter
- The Service Charter is a high-level description of a new or substantially changed service and the approach to build that service. In particular, the Service Charter outlines the deliverables to be created during the service implementation project, the required resources, and an initial project schedule. Service Charters are passed to Service Design to initiate the detailed design of the new or changed service. (Note: New output in ITIL 2011.)
Service Model
- A Service Model is a high-level description of a service and the components required to deliver that service. The main purpose of Service Models is to facilitate an understanding of what service components, assets and other resources are necessary to create the service, including their interactions. Service Models are a valuable tool for understanding the impact of proposed new or changed services on other services at an early stage. (Note: New output in ITIL 2011.)
Service Portfolio
- The Service Portfolio represents a complete list of the services managed by a service provider; some of these services are visible to the customers, while others are not. It contains present contractual commitments, new service development, and ongoing service improvement plans initiated by Continual Service Improvement. It also includes third-party services which are an integral part of service offerings to customers. The Service Portfolio is divided into three phases: Service Pipeline, Service Catalogue, and Retired Services (see also: ITIL Checklist Service Portfolio).
Service Portfolio Review Report
- A document containing the results and findings from a Service Portfolio Review. This report is an important input to the strategic service assessment.
Templates | KPIs
Roles | Responsibilities
Service Portfolio Manager - Process Owner
- The Service Portfolio Manager decides on a strategy to serve customers in cooperation with the IT Steering Group, and develops the service provider's offerings and capabilities.
IT Steering Group (ISG)
- The IT Steering Group (ISG) sets the direction and strategy for IT Services. It includes members of senior management from business and IT. The IT Steering Group reviews the business and IT strategies in order to make sure that they are aligned. It also sets priorities of service development programs/ projects.
| Responsibility Matrix: ITIL Service Portfolio Management | ||||||
| ITIL Role | Sub-Process | Service Portfolio Manager | IT Steering Group | Financial Manager[3] | Service Owner[3] | Applications Analyst[3] | Technical Analyst[3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Define and Analyze new or changed Services | A[1]R[2] | R | R | R | R | R |
| Approve new or changed Services | AR | - | - | - | - | - |
| Service Portfolio Review | AR | - | - | - | - | - |
Remarks
[1] A: Accountable according to the RACI Model: Those who are ultimately accountable for the correct and thorough completion of the ITIL Service Portfolio Management process.
[2] R: Responsible according to the RACI Model: Those who do the work to achieve a task within Service Portfolio Management.
[3] see → Role descriptions ...
Notes
By: Stefan Kempter 
, IT Process Maps.
Process Description › Sub-Processes › Definitions › Roles
