TBM Framework & Taxonomy

What does the future Delivery Services type in the TBM Taxonomy (v2) look like ?  Will there be any future alignment/placement of DevOps related categories ? (i.e. the current layout appears to be more traditional)

Andrew, are there specific categories or gaps that you feel are missing from the taxonomy?  

In response to your question, the TBMC Taxonomy Evolution Sub-Committee considered:

(1) DevOps in the Delivery Services category; and

(2) whether there will be any future alignment/placement of DevOps related categories in the taxonomy.

It is the Sub-Committee’s consensus that DevOps does not represent a service in and of itself. Rather, it is, as stated on Amazon Web Services: “the combination of cultural philosophies, practices, and tools that increases an organization’s ability to deliver applications and services at high velocity.”^[1] The U.S. General Services Administration’s Office of the CTO states that “DevOps is best described as the conventions and practices that create collaborative and communicative partnership between development and operation groups.”^[2] Wikipedia states, in part, that DevOps “is a software delivery process that emphasizes communication and collaboration across the end-to-end value stream from concept to market.”^[3]

Further, it is the Sub-Committee’s position that were such cultural changes and practices incorporated into the TBM taxonomy it would open the door to many, many others (e.g. Lean, Six Sigma, Agile) which would detract from the taxonomy’s stated purpose to:

• gain alignment between IT, Finance, and Business Unit leaders;
• provide a standard taxonomy to describe cost sources, technologies, IT resources (IT towers), applications, and services; and a

^[1] https://aws.amazon.com/devops/what-is-devops/

^[2] https://tech.gsa.gov/guides/what_is_devops/

^[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DevOps

Thank you Ed for the reply and explanation.  It sort of makes sense.  I was just looking to the future and also wondering if there were any other DevOps (and/or product related teams/organizations) that could possibly leverage the taxonomy better if there were some defined services spanning multiple Service Categories within the same Service Type, instead of them having to manage several separate services (i.e. where they would need to split themselves up, along with the value they provided, into 2 or more separate services which crossed 2 or more Service Categories), in order to align their efforts with the TBM Taxonomy... this arrangement just doesn't seem be the most efficient/effective outcome.

Andrew,

We recently went through the exercise of mapping the ITIL processes against the TBM Taxonomy to be able to identify any gaps in the taxonomy and to better explain how the taxonomy supports the ITIL processes.  We will post this information after we have completed another internal review.  While this does not address your question about Dev/Ops, we did have similar discussions.

For "business facing" services that span multiple services/service categories within a service type, we have begun discussions about "Service Bundles".  For example, an IT organization may offer a "User Productivity" bundle that includes the client computing device, pre-defined communication & collaboration software, and connectivity to the corporate network.  Different productivity bundles could offer different capabilities, support and service levels. 

Can you provide a similar example or two for  Dev/Ops that would better align their efforts with the taxonomy?

Thanks,
Ed

Hi Ed,

I will check with our Service Architect for some examples… as he was the one that asked me to submit that question, based upon his insight/experience…

Regards, Andrew Peer

IT Program & Portfolio Services, ITOM, SPM/SCM

Ford Motor Company – Information Technology (IT), Office of the CIO

Never waste a good moment of confusion… it’s an opportunity to create clarity and unity !

The information contained herein is FORD PROPRIETARY information and may include FORD CONFIDENTIAL (PII) information as defined in Ford's Global Information Standard II (GIS2). Reproduction of this document, disclosure of the information, and use for any purpose other than the conduct of business with Ford is expressly prohibited.