In ITIL v3, event management is an additional feature used to define a process that helps leverage automation to manage events to become more effective and efficient. ITIL defines an event as “any detectable or discernable occurrence that has significance for the management of the IT infrastructure or the delivery of IT service and evaluation of the impact a deviation might cause to the services.. (ITIL Service Operation book, Page 35). In event management there are three paths that can be taken:
- Informational: These are events that should be logged for potential future analysis including confirming if the service is operating as expected.
- Warning: During service design, thresholds are identified that help gauge the status of a system. When the threshold is reached, predefined parties, or notification groups, are alerted that the threshold has been reached.
- Exception: This branch is reserved for configuration items (hardware, software or service) that are operating abnormally or have failed. Abnormal behavior criteria should be defined during service design to better understand what types of scenarios trigger what types of exception handling.
See Getting Started with Event Management on ITSMWatch.com.
See also Tips for Implementing ITIL in the Quick Reference section of Webopedia.
