Relationships with Other Service Management Processes

The ITIL Processes are not Stand-Alone. They interact with one another and have a relationship with one another. Below are the other Processes with which Service Portfolio Management Interacts.

Business Relationship Management

Service Portfolio Management is a critical management system supporting the way the IT service provider works in conjunction with the business to ensure that IT adds optimum value. Managing the Service Portfolio requires full collaboration with the business and this means involvement from Business Relationship Management.

Financial Management

One of the key relationships for Service Portfolio Management is with Financial Management. The contribution from Financial Management is concerned with business case development, assessment of investment opportunities, comparative evaluation of different service options, the evaluation of financial risks and the determination of service value. All these are central to decisions about what should be included in the Service Portfolio or removed from it.

Financial Management is also responsible for ensuring that funding is available to support the delivery of the Service Portfolio and for ensuring budget allocations align with it.

Service Catalog Management

Since the Service Portfolio includes the Service Catalogue there needs to be a close relationship between Service Portfolio Management and Service Catalogue Management.

Supplier Management

Supplier Management ensures that all supporting services and their details and relationships are accurately reflected within the Service Portfolio and that the Service Portfolio is consistent with the Supplier and Contracts Database. Supplier Management will draw on information in the Service Portfolio as a basis for negotiating Underpinning Contracts.

Other processes

The Service Level Management process depends heavily on the content and quality of the Service Portfolio, especially the Service Catalog.

Capacity Management has an input into the Service Portfolio to ensure that new technologies are given due consideration in service planning. The Service Portfolio is a key input to Capacity Management.

The construction and maintenance of the Service Portfolio requires input from IT Operations Management and Technical and Applications Management to ensure the Service Portfolio is accurate and achievable.

Don't worry. We will be taking a detailed look at all the processes and functions that are part of the ITIL Service Lifecycle. So, if any of the terms in this post dont make much sense, just read on and you will understand them in the subsequent chapters.

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