Peoplecert ITIL-SOA Exam : ITIL Intermediate Module - Service Offerings and Agreements

Scenario
A commercial IT services company has been successful for many years. Its key strategic differentiator has been the provision of new services to meet customers' needs in very short lead times. Recently profits have dipped, forcing senior management to take a look at the lifecycle costs of providing the IT services to their external customers.
The organization has had a service catalogue containing customer and supporting views for some time. It is an essential source of information about the IT services and is used by both the business relationship managers and the IT services teams. Services are designed internally but often transitioned and operated in partnership with other suppliers.
For each service, the service catalogue currently contains:
* A description of the service
* Summary of the service level targets
* The level of support and support details
* Details of the supporting services and components
* Details of services obtained from suppliers
When sales leads are obtained from potential new customers, the requirements are compared with services in the service catalogue and, if no matching service can be found, a project is set up to quickly develop a new service. In the past this has been justified as meeting the needs of the customers, and full business cases were not developed.
A senior service manager has suggested introducing a service portfolio management process and needs to get the support of the IT management team. The management team wishes to know what extra information would be included in a service portfolio over and above what is already in the service catalogue and what value it would be to them.
The company is looking to restrict investment in new resources. Therefore, only a few projects can be authorized in the next budget cycle.
Refer to the Scenario.
Which one of the following sets of statements BEST describes the elements that a service portfolio contains in addition to the elements in a service catalogue, and describes the additional value service portfolio management would bring to the IT services company in resolving their current issues?

• A. The service portfolio will include: resource allocation; support terms and conditions; ordering and request procedures; the value proposition; offerings and packages.
  The service portfolio will show where additional resources will be required to operate new services.
  Service portfolio management will enable the organization to rationalize existing services to optimize the use of resources.
• B. The service portfolio will include: ordering and request procedures; service level targets; support terms and conditions; details of services obtained from suppliers.
  The service portfolio will show the resources and capabilities that are needed to improve the services in the service catalogue.
  Service portfolio management will enable the organization to expand the service catalogue to include details of service requests and standard changes, providing a valuable self-help portal to users.
• C. The service portfolio will include: business cases; risks; investment priorities; value propositions.
  The service portfolio will show where resources are used across all stages of the service lifecycle both within the provider and where they have been acquired from suppliers.
  Service portfolio management will improve the organization's ability to compare potential investments and make sound decisions.
• D. The service portfolio will include: business cases; risks; business outcomes supported; cost and pricing.
  The service portfolio will show the proportion of resources acquired from key suppliers so that the cost of new services can be accurately estimated.
  Creating a service portfolio that includes services in the service pipeline, as well as those in the service catalogue, will enable new services currently being developed to be included in service offerings. This increased visibility of new services extends the range available for new opportunities.

Scenario
An IT security company provides secure data services to many large financial organizations in several countries. The company has an administrative headquarters in its home country and a data centre in each country of operation.
Each data centre obtains support for services from third-party contracts provided by a number of suppliers. All supporting services are scoped and documented, and are aligned to the corporate strategy and the regulations in force in each country. The security services company maintains and regularly reviews a preferred supplier list from which suppliers are selected as required.
A service desk function is provided by one of the suppliers. Over the last 10 years, a strong relationship has been built up with the supplier based on the high-quality, consistent service they have provided. The nature of the financial business requires the service desk contract to contain severe penalty clauses that can be enforced if the agreed service levels are not maintained, although these have never been required.
A number of complaints have been received from a new banking customer highlighting that, over the previous three months, the level of service provided by the service desk in the management and handling of incidents has been inconsistent, and many incidents have not been resolved in line with agreed targets.
The IT security company has a service level manager who has performed the role for many years. Recently, a new supplier management process was implemented and a supplier manager appointed. Some confusion has arisen over how, and by whom, the recent complaints should be dealt with.
Refer to the Scenario.
You have been asked to resolve the confusion over the service level manager and supplier manager roles. Which one of the following options BEST represents the correct division of responsibilities and will also address the current complaints regarding the service desk supplier?

• A. Service level manager: Inform the customer that the complaints will be reviewed as a matter of urgency. Assure the customer that a disputes process is in place to ensure that the complaints are dealt with in an efficient and effective manner. Inform the customer that they will be updated on the outcome. Review performance of the supplier for all the services they deliver to the company's customers.
  Supplier manager: Log the complaints. Quickly arrange a meeting with service desk supplier to investigate the complaints. If necessary, initiate the dispute process.
• B. Service level manager: Log the complaints. Inform the customer that the complaints will be discussed with the supplier at the next scheduled review meeting. Assure the customer that the contractual disputes process will be invoked to ensure that the complaints are dealt with in an efficient and effective manner. Inform the customer of the actions taken.
  Supplier manager: Discuss the complaints with the supplier at the next review meeting
  Initiate the dispute process with the supplier. Carry out a risk analysis of the supplier and their contract.
• C. Service level manager: Apologize to the customer and compensate them financially for the poor service levels. Assure them that, under the terms and conditions of the contract, a review with the service desk will be carried out and that the supplier will be strictly monitored against agreed targets and penalties imposed, potentially leading to contract termination.
  Carry out a risk analysis of the supplier and their contract.
  Supplier manager: Log the complaints. Set up a review of the supplier and the service desk function. Invoke the contract's penalty clause to recover compensation from the supplier. Increase the supplier's risk rating. Initiate a service improvement plan in conjunction with continual service improvement.
• D. Service level manager: Log the complaints. Inform the customer that the complaints will be reviewed as a matter of urgency. Collect evidence of failures and pass to the supplier manager. Ensure that the complaints are dealt with efficiently and effectively and improvements are initiated where appropriate. Keep the customer informed of both progress and outcome.
  Supplier manager: Arrange a meeting with service desk supplier to investigate the complaints. Review performance of the supplier for all the services they deliver to the company's customers. Report findings back to service level manager.