FITS OM: How does FITS OM integrate with FITS?
FITS offers technical support best practice processes for managing the support and delivery of the ICT services used for learning, teaching and management in schools.
| FITS process | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Service Desk | To be the single point of contact at the school for all users of ICT |
| Incident Management | To fix faults quickly to restore the ICT service to the user as soon as possible |
| Problem Management | To detect the underlying cause of faults and apply a permanent fix |
| Change Management | To manage and record the introduction of ICT changes |
| Release Management | To plan, test and manage the implementation of software and hardware |
| Configuration Management | To implement and maintain up-to-date records of ICT hardware and software |
| Availability and Capacity Management | To detect and prevent ICT problems proactively |
| Service Level Management | To define, agree and document the required service levels with users |
| Service Continuity Management | To minimise the impact on ICT services of an environmental or other disaster |
| Financial Management | To ensure that the ICT is implemented and managed in a cost-effective way |
One of the less developed areas in FITS is the approach towards the operations management of the network technology in the ICT infrastructure. The only section in FITS that touches on operations management is Availability and Capacity Management, which covers Network Monitoring and Preventative Maintenance. These processes help technical support to consider the design, documentation and ongoing monitoring of the network and its components to encourage a proactive approach to technical support.
FITS OM offers guidance on best practice to help schools achieve excellence in their day-to-day operations management. Key operations management functions are Systems Administration, Storage Management, Directory Services Administration, Print and Output Management, Security Administration and Patch Management.
FITS OM aims to help all schools to achieve an introductory level of excellence in all functions of operations management, missing nothing that may have an impact on the availability and reliability of the ICT services for learning, teaching and management in the school. Some schools may be more advanced in some of the operations management functions.
Before embarking on the implementation of FITS and FITS OM, you should ensure that your school has:
- an ICT strategy which defines how you are going to use the ICT for learning, teaching and management
- policies around its use
- a technical support strategy which supports the ICT strategy, and which defines the make up of the ICT infrastructure, and how it should be managed and supported.