Published: April 25, 2008

Position of the Financial Management SMF Within the MOF IT Service Life Cycle

The MOF IT service life cycle encompasses all of the activities and processes involved in managing an IT service: its conception, development, operation, maintenance, and—ultimately—its retirement. MOF organizes these activities and processes into Service Management Functions (SMFs), which are grouped together in lifecycle phases. Each SMF is anchored within a lifecycle phase and contains a unique set of goals and outcomes supporting the objectives of that phase. The SMFs can be used as stand-alone sets of processes, but it is when SMFs are used together that they are most effective in ensuring service delivery at the desired quality and risk levels.

The Financial Management SMF belongs to the Plan Phase of the MOF IT service lifecycle. The following figure shows the place of the Financial Management SMF within the Plan Phase, as well as the location of the Plan Phase within the IT service lifecycle.

Figure 1. Position of the Financial Management SMF within the IT service lifecycle

Before you use this SMF, you may want to read the following MOF 4.0 guidance to learn more about the MOF IT service lifecycle and the Plan Phase:

• MOF Overview
• Plan Phase Overview

Why Use the Financial Management SMF?

This SMF should be useful for anyone with responsibility for measuring and evaluating the costs and benefits—or more comprehensively, the business value—of IT services. It provides an understanding of the fundamental processes and activities involved and describes the context of financial management in terms of risk management and value realization.

It addresses how to do the following:

• Establish service requirements and plan budget.
• Manage finances.
• Perform IT accounting and reporting.