Descriptions of Team Model Role Clusters

Experience has shown that, to be successful, IT management teams must achieve numerous quality goals associated with key service functions. The role clusters of the Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) Team Model are organized around seven general categories of activities and processes, each with its own set of quality goals. Role descriptions within a cluster are focused specifically on activities directed to meet the quality goals; they are not job descriptions, and they do not imply any kind of corporate organization.

The following figure maps the seven role clusters to two dozen possible functional roles or function teams in a typical operations organization. The rest of this section summarizes the functions of each of the seven role clusters.

Role Cluster Details

Descriptions for each of the role clusters are provided in the following table.

Table: Role Cluster Descriptions

Role cluster	Description
Release	Tracks changes and lessons learned in a corporate knowledge base. Tracks inventory and changes in a configuration management database (CMDB). Acts as liaison between the change development team and the operations groups; it encompasses the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) disciplines of configuration management and software control and distribution.
Infrastructure	Defines physical environment standards. Manages physical assets. Maintains the IT infrastructure and oversees IT architecture evolution. Coordinates building and office moves, expansions and acquisitions, and physical environment changes such as wiring, lab space, and user connectivity.
Support	Provides technical support for internal and external customers, resolving incidents and problems using highly automated tools and knowledge base systems. Provides production support for line-of-business (LOB) applications. Gives feedback to the development and design team.
Operations	Ensures that daily, routine tasks are performed reliably within specific technology areas and production systems (for example, messaging and system administration). Performs scheduled and repeatable processes such as data backup, archiving and storage, output management, system monitoring and event log management, and file and print server management.
Partner	Defines and manages partnerships in a mutually beneficial and cost-effective manner. Includes both the internal manager responsible for the relationships with external parties, and those parties themselves.
Security	Ensures data confidentiality, data integrity, and data availability. Influences business policies, such as defining exit procedures to follow when an employee leaves the company.
Service	Ensures that all of the IT services being provided to customers are aligned to the customers' need for them. Maintains a working relationship with customers, understanding their need for IT services, and managing the introduction of new services, service improvements, and (eventually) service reductions and retirements.