This book introducies the Production Services function, which addresses the needs of multiple departments within IT, including Applications Development and Computer Operations.

Just as important, this function addresses the needs of the customers of all newly developed IT systems being transitioned from Applications Development into production. We also highlight the Production Acceptance process used for every new system moving from the development phase into a production mode. Production Acceptance is the most critical process for addressing:

• Infrastructure Support requirements
• Poor communication between IT and its customers regarding newly developed systems
• Lack of communication between Applications Development and Production/Infrastructure Support
• Support roles and responsibilities
• Training and system documentation
• Customer's expectations (service levels)

One of the main reasons that 70 percent of all IT organizations today are still labeled as cost centers, and are failing miserably, is because of their infrastructures. Infrastructures are in horrible shape, as we will exhibit in our IT assessment data. We will share with you the data compiled from over 200 IT assessments from Fortune 500 and Global 2000 companies, but more importantly we will share how this new Production Services function resolves many of those issues. We will show you how to design and change your infrastructure into a world-class Information Technology Service Provider (ITSP), not just a high-priced support center.