Microsoft Operations Framework -- MOF 4.0

Announcements

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  Welcome to MOF 4.0 Online

  Monday, April 28, 2008 3:56 PM

  On behalf of the MOF team and the moderator staff, I’d like to personally welcome you to the new MOF Community at Microsoft. Here you will find an open forum for the discussion of all topics related to service management, MOF, and related process-based frameworks throughout the IT lifecycle.  Now that you are part of this community, we hope to see you actively participating and sharing. MOF integrates community generated processes, governance, risk, and compliance activities, and other industry best practices to provide guidance across the IT service lifecycle.  For us to continue to evolve these best practices in the face of ever shifting technology paradigms, we need your continued input and support.

   

  Here at the MOF Community we invite you to post your questions, share your insights, tell us what you like, and by all means, what you disagree with.  If you have a service management problem you’re trying to resolve, share it and see if the community can help.  All we ask is that you remain respectful of everyone’s opinion and promote intelligent and responsible discussion. If you have any questions, problems, or concerns that don’t seem to be getting addressed by the board, feel free to e-mail us, the MOF team, or contact us via our Blog.

   

  Thank you again for joining us here and for taking a look at MOF 4.0.  We look forward to getting to know you.

  
  Welcome to the conversation!

  Jason Osborne
  MOF Frameworks PM

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  Getting Started with MOF Released to Web

  Friday, December 04, 2009 1:15 AM

  Thanks in part to your participation at every stage of its development, a new MOF implementation guide is now available for download.

  The Getting Started with MOF 4.0 guide is the first step to a more efficient MOF implementation. The guide provides role-and situation-specific guidance, focused on helping users understand where to apply MOF and how to get the most from its recommendations.

  This new extension of the MOF core content speaks to three targeted audiences—the CIO/IT director, IT managers, and individual contributors. Tailoring the content to specific roles clarifies responsibilities and leads to improved service delivery in your organization. The guide includes a list of prioritized action items that address both proactive and reactive issues. Ultimately, this guide serves as the primary resource for implementing MOF within your organization.

  Download the Getting Started with MOF 4.0 guide.

  Looking for additional resources to help you get started with MOF 4.0? Download the MOF IT Pro Quick Start Kit.

  Stay tuned: A new series of MOF Reliability Workbooks will soon be available for Beta download. Want the latest MOF updates? Subscribe to our news feed.

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  MOF 4.0 Frequently Asked Questions

  Monday, April 28, 2008 2:48 PM
   Microsoft Operations Framework - Frequently Asked Questions v1.0
  
  What is MOF 4.0?

  Microsoft® Operations Framework (MOF) 4.0 is a framework that provides practical guidance for managing IT practices and activities throughout the entire IT lifecycle. MOF helps IT professionals establish and implement reliable, cost-effective IT services by integrating

  ·         Tried-and-tested processes for planning, delivering, operating, and managing IT

  ·         Governance, risk, and compliance activities

  ·         Management reviews

  ·         Best practices from Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF)

  MOF helps IT professionals take advantage of everything Microsoft has to offer, including products and Solution Accelerators.

  What’s new in MOF 4.0?

  The guidance in MOF 4.0 moves beyond Operations to address the entire IT lifecycle. MOF 4.0 introduces a new structure for its service management functions (SMFs)—one that emphasizes outcomes, results, and roles in a format that's easy to reference. Because every group, team, and company is unique, the SMFs are anchored by questions the user must answer. Finally, the MOF community serves as a platform where IT professionals can exchange ideas, contribute their own timely, relevant guidance, and communicate directly with Microsoft about the continued evolution of the framework.

  Why did you develop a new version of MOF?

  MOF 4.0 has been expanded and enhanced to:

  ·         Reflect a single, comprehensive IT lifecycle

  ·         Connect service management theory to every-day tasks and activities

  ·         Align IT with business needs and goals

  ·         Address governance, risk, policy, and compliance

  ·         Support continuous improvement through community involvement
  

  How much effort will it take to implement MOF 4.0?

  Your goal should not be to implement MOF; it should be to solve problems and promote efficiency in your organization. You can use MOF to drive key decisions, create and manage key policies and risks, clearly define roles and accountabilities, and define and enact processes for your organization—all in an efficient and practical manner. Because the scope of the problem or opportunity you’re facing will determine the amount of effort required. MOF 4.0 has been designed to help overburdened IT professionals quickly access useful, relevant content. It contains practical guidance for everyday tasks and activities—not just theory —to efficiently and effectively address those problems. Its streamlined approach makes it possible for users to either implement the entire framework or simply use one component of the framework to solve a particular problem.

  Will MOF 4.0 work with the framework I’m currently using?

  MOF 4.0 is backward-compatible with all previous versions of MOF, and can easily integrate policies, tasks, or activities based on other frameworks. MOF 4.0 was designed to provide you with a clear picture of how the entire IT lifecycle is interrelated, what decisions are required and what outcomes are vital, yet leaves it up to the IT organization to determine the areas of focus. An organization or IT professional can use all of MOF 4.0 or just one component of the framework to solve a particular problem.

  Why are there so many tables in MOF 4.0?

  The SMFs are anchored by pertinent questions, inputs, outputs, and best practices for each activity, and the tables provide a format that’s concise and easy to follow. The questions help drive decisions that are relevant for your organization. They also help you determine where to focus—or not—which supports organizational maturation.

  How does MOF address governance, risk, and compliance?

  Governance, risk, and compliance are addressed in the Manage Layer, which is the foundation for the phases (Plan, Deliver, and Operate). Governance identifies the decision makers and stakeholders, determines accountability for actions and responsibilities for outcomes, and addresses how expected performance will be evaluated. Risk management occurs throughout the entire IT lifecycle as well; it addresses business decisions, policy adherence, application development, and operational procedures. Risk also determines what business controls need to be in place. Compliance guides behavior throughout the lifecycle to make sure that governance and risk management activities are addressed. The management reviews in each phase show how IT is performing against corporate governance, risk, and compliance objectives.

  How can I contribute to MOF 4.0?

  A central component of MOF 4.0 is its online community—a place where IT professionals can share service management knowledge and best practices, communicating both with each other and with Microsoft. MOF 4.0 provides a platform that integrates contribution sharing, blogs, forums, online training, and feedback to support the community and keep it ahead of ever-shifting IT trends. To visit MOF online, go to www.microsoft.com/MOF.

  
  

  How is MOF different from ITIL?

  There are many similarities between MOF and ITIL. Both help IT organizations achieve reliable and cost-effective IT services; each uses the entire IT service lifecycle as the context for work activities. ITIL v3 is a vast compendium of information that addresses the breadth of IT activities by providing considerable detail in a number of areas. ITIL content consists of more than 1300 pages of concepts and models that address how IT organizations can provide valued services.

  Similarly, MOF 4.0 contains core IT service management guidance, but takes a more streamlined approach to meet the needs of the overburdened IT professional. MOF 4.0 presents fundamental IT processes and their associated activities in an easy-to-grasp table format. And because busy IT professionals still have to implement, execute, follow or report IT policies and navigate risks every day, MOF 4.0 includes policy creation in the Plan Phase as well as support for IT governance, risk management, and compliance throughout the entire IT service lifecycle. Risk management and internal controls provide a coherent focus throughout the lifecycle and demonstrate the interconnectedness of all IT activities.

  How will MOF and Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) work together?

  MOF 4.0 integrates MSF core principles in the form of SMFs into the IT service lifecycle.  MSF is also available as an independent framework. The current MSF content, training, job aids, and templates—on which those SMFs are based—resides on http://www.microsoft.com/technet/solutionaccelerators/msf/default.mspx.   Enacted MSF guidance also ships in Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2005 and Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008. Customers have given feedback that they would like to see a coherent guidance strategy across development and operations. The two teams are in the process of aligning; the goal is to empower IT professionals and developers with a consistent and coherent set of processes and best practices.

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  New MOF Guide—Now Available for Download

  Monday, July 16, 2012 6:20 PM

  The Microsoft Operations Framework team is pleased to announce that the Managing and Operating a Microsoft Private Cloud—How to Apply the Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) guide is now available for download. To download the new guide, go to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc506049.aspx.

  This guide leads you through the process of how to manage and operate a Microsoft private cloud using the service management processes of the Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF). The guide applies MOF’s IT service management principles to that conceptual architecture and technology stack. It describes how to maximize the potential of MOF’s people, process, and technical capabilities to manage and operate a Microsoft private cloud. Follow this guidance for a private cloud that is better aligned to meet your business needs. Employ MOF’s service management functions (SMFs) to help align IT and business goals, which can enable you to perform private cloud activities effectively and cost-efficiently.

  This guide focuses on the SMFs in the Operate Phase and the Manage Layer of MOF to give IT pros and managers what they need to know about managing and operating a private cloud. Management reviews—internal controls that ensure goals are met to achieve business value—are also included.

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