Day 1: Establishing IT Operations and Access Controls

IT Operations Operating Model

• Define ownership for critical decisions
• Separate governance from execution responsibilities
• Clarify handoffs across participating teams
• Prepare operating responsibility matrix

IT Operations Server and OS Management

• Identify infrastructure supporting critical services
• Assess capacity against expected demand
• Identify single operational failure points
• Prioritize improvements by service criticality

IT Operations Privileged Access

• Group access by system sensitivity
• Apply role-based access permissions
• Review joiner mover leaver changes
• Escalate excessive or conflicting access

Day 2: Monitoring Systems, Patching, and Protecting Recovery

IT Operations Monitoring and Alerts

• Identify events requiring operational alerts
• Set thresholds reflecting service impact
• Separate actionable alerts from noise
• Prepare monitoring view highlighting signals

IT Operations Updates and Patches

• Inventory systems requiring updates
• Rank vulnerabilities by exposure impact
• Test patches through controlled deployment
• Track exceptions until risk closure

IT Operations Backup and Restoration

• Define critical-service recovery needs
• Set backup scope frequency retention
• Test restoration using representative scenarios
• Draft concise recovery checklist

Day 3: Automating Administration and Managing Capacity

IT Operations Scripting and Automation

• Identify repetitive tasks suitable scripting
• Write simple scripts with safeguards
• Validate scripts in controlled environment
• Test automation using realistic scenario

Capacity and Performance Management

• Create baselines for resource utilization
• Analyze future capacity constraint trends
• Set thresholds for proactive intervention
• Align capacity decisions with demand

Documentation and Operating Procedures

• Define responsibilities for stable operations
• Apply controlled procedures for changes
• Respond to alerts using escalation
• Review recurring issues for prevention

Day 4: Controlling Change, Incidents, and Operational Continuity

IT Operations Change and Release Control

• Identify groups affected by changes
• Explain change purpose by role
• Support teams through change barriers
• Reinforce changes using stakeholder feedback

IT Operations Incident Escalation

• Define operational incident escalation criteria
• Define escalation levels and ownership
• Use monitoring to detect incidents
• Document escalation decisions for handover

Operational Continuity and Recovery

• Define critical-service continuity requirements
• Prioritize backup scope frequency retention
• Validate restoration using representative scenarios
• Create concise recovery checklist

Day 5: Improving Reliability, Efficiency, and Tool Management

Tool and License Management

• Inventory tools licenses assigned owners
• Compare usage with licensed entitlement
• Remove redundant unsupported software
• Plan renewals around verified need

Efficiency and Reliability Measures

• Select measures revealing efficiency early
• Balance quality efficiency reliability measures
• Set thresholds requiring investigation escalation
• Build concise reliability decision view

IT Operations Improvement Plan

• Build IT operations improvement roadmap
• Prioritize improvements by value feasibility
• Identify operational dependencies needing resolution
• Set measures tracking operations improvement

• Guided analysis of IT operations operating model using workplace evidence
• Practical exercises developing capability in backup and restoration
• Scenario review testing decisions around incidents and technical escalation
• A capstone activity creating an IT operations improvement plan with owners measures and review dates