New Series of MOF Reliability Workbooks-Now Available for Beta Review

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Hi All,

This guide will show you how to fine-tune the Reliability Workbook task lists that are used to monitor and maintain the health and reliability of specific Microsoft® technologies. This guide can be used with any of the technology-specific Reliability Workbook task lists (Microsoft Excel® spreadsheets). The output of using this document is a list of, monitoring and maintenance tasks, health risks, and authorized standard changes that have been customized to the goals of your organization and the technologies you employ.

A reliable service or system is dependable, requires minimal maintenance, performs without interruption, and allows users to quickly access the resources they need. These characteristics are not only true for business-as-usual conditions; they must also apply during times of business change and growth and during unexpected events.

Documenting management’s objectives for reliability is the starting point. Then the risks to achieving these objectives are identified, ways to address and mitigate these risks are determined, and controls are put in place to guide and monitor mitigations and work activities. Monitoring and maintaining the reliability of key IT services minimizes disruptive, reactive work and enables an IT organization to be proactive, predictable, and reliable.

The Reliability Workbook Series

The Reliability Workbook Series is organized around the following service layers into a service map designed to deliver IT value for the business:

· Component technologies. These are individual technologies such as Microsoft Active Directory®, Internet Information Services (IIS), or Domain Name System (DNS). These components are the building blocks of IT technical services. A reliability workbook task list that contains specific tasks for monitoring and maintaining reliability along with health risk analysis and standard changes is provided for each selected technology. You can find these workbooks at www.microsoft.com/mof.

· IT technical services. These consist of component technologies that work together to provide a technical service. Examples of IT technical services include identity and access management, data life cycle management, and unified communications management. IT technical services combine to provide IT business services.

· IT business services. This layer combines various IT technical services to support line-of-business (LOB) applications––those services offered in a business context that provide the technology needed for business processes. Examples of IT business services include enterprise resource management (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), e-mail, or any custom LOB application used to support a special business process.

Download the beta materials on Connect: https://connect.microsoft.com/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?SiteID=14&DownloadID=15056

This series of workbooks provides the knowledge, specific tasks, and schedules needed to keep technologies running smoothly so you can deliver the services your organization expects. Each workbook includes maintenance and monitoring tasks, common risk areas, and standard changes for the ongoing care of specific technologies. The series also includes an administrator’s guide for customizing these technologies for your organization.

The MOF Reliability Workbooks present hands-on tasks that you can fine tune to meet the goals of your organization and the technologies you employ. The first workbooks in the series address Active Directory, System Center Operations Manager, and Hyper-V.

Take an early look at the Reliability Workbooks, and start getting the most from your organization’s technologies.

Tell us what you think! Preview these beta materials, and send your honest feedback to MOF@microsoft.com. Is the presentation of these activities helpful? How accurate are these workbooks? Is there any additional information you’d like included? What other technologies would you like to see addressed? Does the administrator’s guide provide the information you need to customize for your organization? We appreciate your comments, and we’ll work to make each resource as helpful and useful as possible.

Tell your peers about MOF 4.0! Please forward this to anyone who wants to learn more about Microsoft Operations Framework.

More information about MOF 4.0: Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) 4.0 incorporates the core requirements of industry best practices and frameworks into one free, easy-to-understand set of guidance. MOF 4.0 delivers practical guidance for everyday IT practices and activities, helping IT professionals establish and implement reliable, cost-effective IT services. It integrates community-generated processes; governance, risk, and compliance activities; management reviews; and Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) best practices. MOF 4.0 is a framework that provides guidance across the IT service lifecycle.

Join the MOF beta: Additional MOF content is periodically available for open beta download. For more information on current beta releases, visit the Connect MOF program page.

Join the Microsoft Operations Framework beta today: https://connect.microsoft.com/InvitationUse.aspx?ProgramID=1880&InvitationID=SAMI-HWK9-XB3Y&SiteID=14.

Nick.