This comprehensive resource will help you automate and optimize all facets of service management with System Center 2012 Service Manager. Expert consultants offer deep “in the trenches” insights for improving problem resolution, change control, release management, asset lifecycle management, chargeback, and more. You’ll learn how to implement high-value best practices from ITIL and the Microsoft Operations Framework. The authors begin with an expert overview of Service Manager, its evolution, and its new capabilities. Next, they walk through overall planning, design, implementation, and upgrades. Then, to help you focus your efforts, they present stepwise coverage of all topics in each feature area, linking technical information about Service Manager with essential knowledge about the technologies it depends on. Whatever your role in deploying or running Service Manager, this guide will help you deliver more responsive support at lower cost and drive more value from all your IT investments. • Leverage MOF and ITIL processes built into System Center 2012 Service Manager • Plan and design your Service Manager deployment • Install Service Manager or upgrade from earlier versions • Efficiently administer work and configuration items • Use connectors to integrate with Active Directory, Exchange, and System Center components • Create service maps • Enable end user access through Service Manager’s self-service portal • Implement incident, problem, change, and release management • Utilize workflows to automate key support processes • Create service level agreements with calendars, metrics, and objectives • Provide quick access to a standardized catalog of services • Use notification to ensure that Service Manager items are promptly addressed • Secure Service Manager and its data warehouse/reporting platform • Perform maintenance, backup, and recovery • Manage Service Manager performance • Customize Service Manager

Table of Contents:
Foreword xxiv Introduction   xxvi A Toolset That Delivers IT as a Service    xxvi About This Book    xxvii Fast Track: A Quick Look at What’s New    xxviii Disclaimers and Fine Print    xxix PART I:  SERVICE MANAGER OVERVIEW AND CONCEPTS Chapter 1  Service Management Basics    3 Ten Reasons to Use Service Manager    4 The Problem with Today’s Systems    5    Why Do Systems Go Down?    6    Configuration “Shift and Drift”    7    System Isolation    8    Lack of Historical Information    9    Lack of Expertise    9    Missing Incidents and Information    10    Lack of Process Consistency    10    Not Meeting Service Level Expectations    11    What It’s All About   11 Service Management Defined    11    The Importance of Service Management to IT    12    Key Concepts in IT Service Management    12 Evolution of the CMDB    13 Strategies for Service Management   13    Microsoft’s Dynamic Systems Initiative    14    Microsoft Product Integration    14    MOF and ITIL    16    COBIT: A Framework for IT Governance and Control   17    Total Quality Management: TQM   17    Six Sigma    17    CMMI   17    Business Process Management    18    Service Management Mastery: ISO/IEC 20000    18    Optimizing Your Infrastructure    18 Bridging the Service Management Gap   22    Delivering System Uptime    24    Addressing Configuration “Shift and Drift”    24    Consolidating Information    25    Providing Historical Information   25    Delivering Expertise    26    Addressing Missing Incidents and Information    27    Providing Process Consistency    27    Meeting Service Level Agreements    27 Overview of Microsoft System Center    28    Reporting and Trend Analysis    30    Operations Management    31    Enterprise Client Management    32    Endpoint Protection   32    Service Management    32    Protecting Data    33    Virtual Machine Management    33    Deploy and Manage in the Cloud    34    Orchestration and Automation    34    Cloud-Based Configuration Monitoring   35 The Value Proposition of Service Manager    35 Summary 36 Chapter 2  Service Manager History and Terminology   37 The History of Service Manager   37    Service Manager 2010   38    Service Manager 2012   39 Service Manager Terminology    40    Technical Terminology    40    Functional Terminology   49 Summary    52 Chapter 3  MOF, ITIL, and System Center   53 About ITIL    53 About MOF   55 MOF, ITIL, and the Cloud    56 Applying IT Service Management    57    Approaching IT Service Management Initiatives    58    MOF and ITIL Processes Supported by Service Manager    59 IT Service Management Processes in Service Manager    59    About Incident Management    60    About Service Request Fulfillment    66    About Problem Management    69 About Change Management    73    About Release Management    79    About Configuration Management    83 Summary    87 Chapter 4  Looking Inside System Center 2012 Service Manager   89 Architectural Overview    90 Management Group Defined    92 Service Manager Server Features    94    Using a Minimum Installation    94    Adding Reporting Capabilities    95    Service Manager Management Server    96    Service Manager Database (ServiceManager)    96    Data Warehouse Management Server    96    Data Warehouse Database    97    Service Manager Console    98    Self-Service Portal (SSP)    99 Windows Services    99    System Center Data Access Service (OMSDK)    99    Microsoft Monitoring Agent (HealthService)    100    System Center Management Configuration (OMCFG)    101 Service Manager Workflow    102 Service Manager Connectors    104 Modeling and Management Pack Schema    105    Data Modeling   105    Management Pack Schema   107 Service Manager Console   109 Communications    114 Fast Track    115 Summary    115 PART II:  PLANNING AND INSTALLATION Chapter 5  Planning and Designing System Center 2012 Service Manager 119 Planning to Use Service Manager    120    Establishing and Optimizing the Business Requirements    120    Scoping the Service Manager Deployment Objectives    120    Assessing and Capturing the Current Environment    122    Creating the Deployment Plan    124    Review and Sign-Off of the Deployment Plan    127 Planning to Deploy Service Manager    128    Planning for Licensing    128    Common Design Scenarios    131 Capacity Planning    135    Security and Authentication Planning    137    Network Considerations   140    Planning for Availability, Resilience, and Fault Tolerance    141    Incorporating a Test Environment into the Design    144 Summary    145 Chapter 6  Installing and Upgrading to System Center 2012 Service Manager   147 Pre-Installation Tasks    148    Preparing and Understanding Installation Prerequisites    148    Installing and Configuring Prerequisites    152 Five-Server Scenario Installation    155    Installing the Service Manager Management Server    155    Installing the Service Manager Data Warehouse Management Server    162    Installing the Service Manager Web Portal    172 Three-Server Scenario Installation    178 Upgrading to Service Manager 2012    179    Upgrading the Data Warehouse Management Server    180    Upgrading the Service Manager Management Server    186    Upgrading the Service Manager Console    188 Troubleshooting Installations and Upgrades    191 Recommended Post-Installation Tasks    192    For New Installations    192    Post-Installation Tasks for Upgraded Environments    193 Removing a Service Manager Installation    193 Summary   194 PART III:  SERVICE MANAGER OPERATIONS Chapter 7  Using Service Manager   197 Service Manager Console Overview    198    Administration of Service Manager with the Service Manager Console    202    Administration Workspace Node Overview    202 Service Manager Portal Overview    211    Portal Main Page    213    Service Offerings    214    Request Offerings    215    Knowledge Articles   215    My Requests    215    My Activities    216 Fast Track    217 Summary    217 Chapter 8  Working with Connectors   219 Understanding the Connector Framework    219    Configuration Item Connectors    222    Work Item Connectors   231    Hybrid Service Manager Connectors    232 Creating and Working with Configuration Item Connectors    233   Creating an Active Directory Connector    233    Creating a Configuration Manager Connector    240    Creating and Working with an Operations Manager  Configuration Item Connector    244    Creating a Virtual Machine Manager Connector    248    Creating a CSV Connector    252 Creating and Working with Work Item Connectors    258    Creating and Working with the Operations Manager Alert Connector    258    Creating and Working with the Orchestrator Connector    261    Creating and Working with the Exchange Connector    266    Connector Maintenance and Troubleshooting    269 Summary    270 Chapter 9  Business Services   271 Introducing Business Services in Service Manager    271    Defining Business Services    272    Characteristics of a Business Service    274 Using Operations Manager with Business Services    277    Distributed Applications in Operations Manager    277    Distributed Application Best Practices    278    Service Maps as the Foundation of a Business Service    279 Creating a Business Service    281    Building an Operations Manager Distributed Application    281    Exporting the Operations Manager Management Pack    284    Importing the Management Pack into Service Manager    286 Using Non-Operations Manager Components    291    Authoring a Management Pack    292    Importing and Using the Management Pack   294 Updating a Business Service    296 Automatically Mapping Operations Manager Incidents to a Business Service    298 Fast Track    302 Summary    302 Chapter 10  Service Manager Service Catalog   303 Understanding the Service Catalog    303 Service Catalog Permissions    305    Granting User Access to the Self-Service Portal 306    Creating a Catalog Item Group   306    Creating a User Role    307 Using Service Offerings   308 About Request Offerings    310    Using Request Offering Templates    311    Creating a Request Offering    315    Copying Request Offerings    324 Adding Request Offerings to Service Offerings    325 Working in the Self-Service Portal    326 Using the Knowledge Base    331 Fast Track    335 Summary   335 Chapter 11  Incident Management   337 Understanding the Incident Management Process    337 Incident Management in Service Manager    339 Incident Management Process Activities    344    Incident Creation    345    Incident Detection and Recording    346    Incident Classification and Initial Support    347    Incident Investigation and Diagnosis    350    Escalating Incidents   352    Incident Resolution and Recovery    352    Closing Incidents    353 Configuring Incident Management    354    Incident User Roles, Groups, Queues, and Lists    354    Configuring General Incident Settings    362   Configuring Incoming Emailed Incidents    368    Configuring Operations Manager Integration    374    Configuring Configuration Manager DCM Integration    376 Automating Incident Management    376    Creating Incident Management Templates    378    Creating Incident Management Workflows    380    Automating Incoming Operations Manager Alerts    384 Creating a Desired Configuration Management Workflow    385 Service Level Management    389    Creating a Service Level Objective Calendar Item    391    Creating a Service Level Objective Metric    392    Creating a Service Level Objective    394 Incident Management for End Users    396    Creating Incidents    397    Incident Follow-Up    397    Resolving and Closing Incidents    398 Fast Track    398 Summary    398 Chapter 12  Automation and Chargeback   399 Overview of Service Management and Automation   401    The Role of Automation    401    Service Manager’s Role in Private Cloud    402 Workflows in Service Manager    404 Service Manager SMLets    407 Orchestrator and Service Manager    412 Overview of Chargeback    415 Installing and Using Chargeback    417    Operations Manager Management Server Configuration    418    Service Manager Management Server Configuration    420    Configuring Chargeback    421    Using Chargeback Reports    422 Fast Track    424 Summary    424 Chapter 13  Problem Management   425 Understanding the Problem Management Process    425    Comparing Incident Management with Problem Management    426    Problem Management Functionality    426 Problem Management in Service Manager    428 Problem Management Process Activities    432    Problem Detection    434    Problem Recording, Classification, and Prioritization    435    Problem Investigation and Diagnosis    437    Known Error Control in Service Manager    438    Problem Resolution    440    Problem Closure    440 Configuring Problem Management    441    Problem Management Console Tasks    441 Problem Management User Roles, Groups, Queues, and Lists   442    Configuring General Problem Management Settings    443    Configuring Notification    444 Automating Problem Management    445 Fast Track   445 Summary   445 Chapter 14  Change Request and Configuration Management   447 Change Management in Service Manager    447 Change Management Process Activities    451    Configuration Item Baselines    453    Initiating and Recording Changes    454    Classifying Changes 459    Approving and Scheduling Changes 460    Coordinating Change Implementations    462    Reviewing and Closing Changes   465 Configuring Change Management    465    Change Management Console Tasks    466    Change Management User Roles, Groups, Queues, and Lists   467    Configuring General Change Request Management Settings    468    Configuring Notification    469    Creating a Change Request Template    470    Change Management Workflows    472 Fast Track    474 Summary    475 Chapter 15  Release Management   477 Understanding the Release Management Process    477 Release Management in Service Manager    479 Release Management Process Activities    482    Release Planning    483    Building and Testing the Release    486    Release Deployment    488    Release Evaluation and KPI Measurement    491 Configuring Release Management    492    Using Release Management Console Tasks   493    Creating Release Management User Roles, Groups, Queues, and Lists    494    Configuring General Release Management Settings    494    Configuring Release Templates    496    Building Release Records    498 Fast Track    501 Summary    502 PART IV:  ADMINISTERING SERVICE MANAGER Chapter 16  Managing Notifications   505 Notification Overview    505 Notification Setup   506    Using Recipients    506    Configuring Notification Channels    508    Creating Templates    510    Using Subscriptions    512    Incorporating Different Languages in Subscriptions    515    Adding Localization to Notification Emails    517    Culture XX is a Neutral Culture    519 Using Notification Workflows   520    Configuring a Workflow to Change the Impact of an Incident    521    Using the Workflow    524 Notification for Review Activities    526    Creating a Notification Template    527    Configuring an Activity Event Workflow    528 Creating Recurring Notifications    531 Fast Track    533 Summary    533 Chapter 17  Service Manager Security   535 Role-Based Security    536    Security Boundary Scoping    536    User Experience Optimization Scoping 537    Operations on the Data Access Service 537    About User Roles 538    Default User Roles    538    User Role Profiles    539    Best Practices for Creating Custom User Roles    543 Data Warehouse and Reporting Security    557    Data Warehouse Administrators User Role    558    Granting Access to Reports    558 Advanced User Role Scenarios 559    Scoping Knowledge Articles    560    Scoping Announcements 561    Scoping Software Packages    561 Run As Accounts 562    Run As Account Usage Scenarios    562    Out of the Box Run As Accounts    563 Creating and Using Custom Run As Accounts    564 Security Best Practices    571    Securing Database Access    572    Enabling Auditing   572 Fast Track    573 Summary    574 Chapter 18  Maintenance, Backup, and Recovery   575 Performing Maintenance    577 Planning and Performing Backup    578    Scheduling Considerations    580    Configuration Backup    581    SQL Server Database Backup    585    Operating System Backup    593 Planning and Performing Recovery    593    Configuration and Settings Recovery    594    Feature Recovery   594    Full Operating System Recovery   598 Summary    598 Chapter 19  Managing Service Manager Performance    599 Understanding Service Manager Performance    600 Service Manager Console Performance    602    Infrastructure Performance    602    Configuration Performance    603 Self-Service Portal Performance    610    Self-Service Portal Sizing    610    SharePoint 2010 Performance    610    Web Content Server Performance    610    Custom Icons    611 Service Manager SQL Server Database Performance    612    Input/Output per Second (IOPS)   613    Database and Log Files    613    Available Memory   613    Placement of TempDB   613 Service Manager Data Warehouse SQL Server Database Performance    614    Splitting Data Warehouse Databases    614    Cube Processing   614 Data Collection and Connectors    615    Types of Data    615 Connector Settings    617 Service Manager Management Server Performance    618    Using Orchestrator Runbooks    618    Using Groups and Queues    619    Use of Workflows    619 Testing Performance    620    Stress Testing Service Manager    621    Lab Resources    622 Service Manager Add-ons    624    Cireson   624    Gridpro    624 Summary   625 PART V:  BEYOND SERVICE MANAGER Chapter 20  Management Packs    629 Management Packs Defined    630 Purpose of Management Packs    632    Uninstalling Management Packs    633    Transporting Management Packs    633    Management Pack Versioning    634    Management Pack Componentization    634 Working with Management Packs    634    Sealed and Unsealed Management Packs    634    Management Pack Deployment    636    Creating a Management Pack Using the Service Manager  Console    638    Viewing the Properties of a Management Pack    639    Exporting a Management Pack    641    Importing a Management Pack    642 Management Pack Bundles    644 Management Pack Schema    645    Identity Section    646    Versioning    646    About References    646    Entity Types Section    648    Secure References   648    Using Categories    648    About Templates    648    Presentation Section    649    Language Packs    650    Resources Section    650 Image Files    651    About Enumerations    651    Combination Classes    651    Console Tasks    653    Resources    654    Forms    654 Management Pack Best Practices    655 Fast Track    657 Summary    657 Chapter 21  Data Warehouse and Reporting   659 Data Warehouse Overview    660    Data Warehouse Explained    660    Service Manager Data Warehouse Rationale    662    Online Analytical Processing Explained    663    Analysis Library Explained    664    SQL Server Reporting Services Explained    664    PowerPivot Explained    664    PerformancePoint Explained    664 Data Warehouse Architecture    665    Data Warehouse Services    665    Data Warehouse Databases    665    Management Pack Synchronization Process    666    Extract, Transform, and Load Process    666    Data Warehouse Jobs    667    Data Warehouse Schema    669 Deploying the Data Warehouse    669 Data Warehouse Reporting    672    Reporting Permissions    672    Viewing Standard Reports    673    Favorite and Linked Reports    673    Subscribing to and Publishing Reports in SSRS    674    Reports Using Excel PowerPivot    676    Using Analysis Library to Store and View PowerPivot Reports    679    Dashboards in SharePoint PerformancePoint   680 Fast Track    684 Summary    684 Chapter 22  Customizing Service Manager   685 Planning Your Customization    685    What You Can Customize    686    Planning for Management Packs Customization    687 About Data Modeling    690    Presenting Data in Service Manager    697    Automating Processes with Workflows    705    Utilizing Groups and Queues    707    General Considerations for Customization    708    Required Knowledge   709 Performing Customizations in Service Manager   709    Customizing the Console    710    Creating Data Models    723    Creating Workflows    739    Customizing Service Manager Forms   747 Fast Track    753 Summary    754 Chapter 23  Advanced Customization Scenarios   755 Creating Console Tasks Using PowerShell    756 Using Custom Data Models   760 Creating a Management Pack Using Visual Studio Authoring Extensions    763    Creating the Management Pack    763    Defining the Management Pack Display Name    764    Adding References to the Management Pack    765    Creating the Building Base Class   766    Creating the Odyssey Building Room Class    768    Adding the Room Availability Enumeration to the Room Class    769    Adding the BuildingHasRoom Custom Relationship Type    771    Creating the Odyssey Building Bank Class    772    Adding a Type Projection to the Bank Class    773    Creating a Strong Name Key    774    Building and Sealing the Management Pack 775 Adding Views to the Management Pack    777    Customizing View Columns    783    Creating Custom Views    785 Creating Console Forms    789 Additional Resources    797    Viewing Criteria Based on Tokens    797    Building a Custom UserControl to Integrate into Forms   798    Additional Custom Console Tasks    798    Additional Form Customizations    798    Using the TechNet Gallery for Service Manager    798 Fast Track    798 Summary    799 Chapter 24  Using PowerShell   801 Windows PowerShell Cmdlet Primer    802    Frequently Used and Useful Cmdlets    802    Using the PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment    811 Service Manager and PowerShell    812    Connecting to Service Manager Management Server from PowerShell    813    Service Manager Cmdlet Use Cases    814    Writing Service Manager PowerShell Scripts    816    Service Manager PowerShell Script Use Cases    818 Using PowerShell for Data Warehouse Administration    822    Data Warehouse Cmdlet Use Cases   822    Using PowerShell to Manage the Data Warehouse    830 SMLets PowerShell Module    830    Installing SMLets    831    Using SMLets    831 Fast Track   837 Summary    838 PART VI:  APPENDIXES Appendix A   User Role Profiles Supplement   841 User Role Profile Classes and Relationship Permissions    841 Mapping User Role Profiles with ITIL/MOF Roles    854    ITIL Role Types    854    Microsoft Operations Framework Role Types   856    Operations and Service Monitoring and Control SMF Role Types    856    Customer Service SMF Role Types    858    Change and Configuration SMF Role Types    859 Appendix B   Reference URLs    861 General Resources    861 Microsoft’s Service Manager Resources    864 Other Service Manager Resources    867 Service Manager Authoring    869 PowerShell and SMLets   871 Service Manager Connectors    873 System Center 2012    875 SQL Server Resources    876 Reporting and Data Warehouse Resources    877 Blogs    879 Public Forums    880 Appendix C   Available Online   883 Backup and Recovery    883 Managing Workflows    884 Building a Management Pack    884 Adding Service Components to a Business Service    884 Live Links   884 Index   885