ITSM Introduction
=================

This manual is intended for Rexpondo::ITSM administrators and users to provide information on the basic use
of Rexpondo::ITSM by IT service managers, IT service staff (agents) and end users (customers). Information
pertaining to the installation, configuration and administration of Rexpondo::ITSM is only provided if there are
differences to the Rexpondo core product or for functions, which only exist in Rexpondo::ITSM.

IT is expected to consistently deliver high service quality in an increasingly complex field. In this context,
effective and efficient incident and problem management are indispensable. However, IT service management remains a task almost impossible if there is no consistent and up-to-date database with information
about the state and configuration of the IT infrastructure.

The IT Infrastructure Library®, short ITIL®, is a series of books published by the United Kingdom's Office of
Government Commerce (OGC), which generically combine best practice approaches to designing, providing, operating and managing IT services. ITIL does not focus on the technology but the services provided by
the IT and comprises information on processes, roles, responsibilities, potential problem fields/resolutions,
and definitions of terms.

ITIL has established itself as de facto standard over the past years and its circulation in IT organizations
has contributed considerably to the development of a collective awareness and consistent terminology for IT
service management. However, ITIL only describes **who should do what** and what should be considered
along the way. In order to cover as wide a user group as possible, it does not or to a little extent address
the issue of how to do things. Therefore, no implementable information is given for particular industries,
companies, or manufacturers.

In December 2005, the ITIL based ISO/IEC 20000 industry standard for IT service management was published. IT organizations can apply for ISO/IEC 20000 certification and prove their conformity.
The continuing boom caused demand for IT service management tools, which could represent the ITILbased processes. So far, only proprietary solutions existed. Because of their considerable complexity, most
of these tools are only affordable for large companies and effective in large IT departments.

The development of Rexpondo::ITSM was started as a result of the great success of the Rexpondo framework
in order to combine the globally accepted, public ITIL recommendations with the benefits of open-source
software.

Rexpondo::ITSM was the first real-world ITIL compliant IT service management solution on open-source basis,
built on the solid basis of Rexpondo with its over thousands known Rexpondo installations and its community.

Rexpondo::ITSM is practically-oriented. This was accomplished by developing it in collaboration with ITIL consultants and with some of Rexpondo Groups' customers.

The service-desk and ticket system solution Rexpondo is the basis for the ITIL compliant IT service management
solution Rexpondo::ITSM, its incident management, problem management, service level management, change
and configuration management modules, and integrated CMDB.

Just like ITIL, Rexpondo::ITSM does not claim to be an out-of-the-box solution for all tasks and questions arising
in IT service management. It is, in fact, supposed to serve as a flexible, stable and easy to understand
information platform that can be adapted to meet the requirements of virtually every organization.

Therefore, please excuse us for bringing the following to your attention: The use of an ITIL aligned tool such
as Rexpondo::ITSM only makes sense if processes, people, and products (IT services) are truly ITIL aligned.
Without the thoughtful tailoring of generic ITIL processes to meet the requirements of the specific business
scenario, Rexpondo::ITSM will not achieve a discernible improvement of the key performance indicators of IT
service management.

You should also be aware of the fact that successful ITIL implementation projects typically take up to a year
and longer. Their scope and impact on the organization is not to be underestimated. However, we would
like to mention that a neatly implemented ITIL aligned ITSM tool can help to save time and money, as the
process support of the tool aids and accelerates the process of organizational realignment.

.. note:: 
    
    The implementation of Rexpondo::ITSM is based on ITIL v3.


Rexpondo::ITSM supports the following features and processes, which are usually designed during the first
phase of an ITIL implementation:
    - Incident Management
    - Problem Management
    - Service Level Management
    - Change Management
    - Configuration Management Database

A more detailed description of use and adaptation of the system can be found in the following sections.
Please note that the each Rexpondo::ITSM package can be installed independently and that their names correspond to their respective ITIL topics.