IBM Service Management architecture

In this paper we describe the IBM Service Management (ISM) architecture, a service-oriented architecture designed to automate and simplify the management of business services. We describe the four major components of ISM: portal-based user interfaces, a process layer that includes the process runtime and service management solutions, an information layer that includes a configuration management database, and operational management products and their integration with service management processes. We describe the way in which the service management solutions are based on industry best practices, and in particular ITIL (R) (Information Technology infrastructure Library((R))). We discuss our experiences implementing ISM and conclude with ideas for future work, including how ISM lays out the groundwork for the future implementation of autonomic functions.