IT Department SOP? 2

[SQLBI]

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum to be asking this question, however i'm sure someone will point me in the right direction if not...

I work for a relativley new company (UK based) that for the past couple of years has concentrated on growing the business and devoting the IT deparments resouces to this aim, with little or no attention to policies and procedures.

Its now become apparent that we need to adopt a form of standard operating procedure for things like requests for new hardware, new network/email accounts, security, back-up and restore etc.

Obviously to write something like this from scratch would take time and recource that just aren't available so we would like to obtain/purchase a generic template and adapt it to our own organisation.

Can anyone suggest where we might find such a template or how we should start getting 'all our ducks in a row'?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Leigh

The problem with common sense is that it isn't that common!

 

[mrdenny]

Microsoft actually has quite a few templates which are posted on the Office Help section. In Excel (or Work probably) do to open a template and it should give you the option to look for more templates online.

The URL is

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/default.aspx?Application=XL&Ver=11

They've got tons of stuff which you can download and use. Most of them you simply plug in the company name and logo, and then start using it.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000) / MCTS (SQL 2005) / MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005)

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

 

[Xaqte]

We had a need for such a procedure ourselves, and I have to say it took much trial and error. However, we couldn't have created and managed our procedures without the help of a very useful tool:

http://www.bestpractical.com/rt/

Let us know your results!

X

 

[lionelhill]

What you should do depends on why you need a SOP. If you need one just because someone somewhere says you need a piece of paper called a SOP, but you don't intend to follow it, you can buy in whatever you want, or download something approximately right from the web. I know this isn't the point of SOPs, but I'm pretty sure many get used that way.

If you actually already have a procedure you follow, even if it's just an informal procedure, you could consider writing your procedure in a formal way. Your company must have other SOPs for other purposes (most UK companies seem to have SOPs for removing the cap of a biro), so probably you already have a template of some sort; you just need to get hold of the template from whoever is designated as the quality assurance person, and fill it out.

The best of both worlds is to look at what you do, read what other people do, combine the best of both approaches, and write it up in your company's SOP-style to fit their SOP template.

The important thing to bear in mind is that a SOP is supposed to be a procedure you follow, written in a way that helps members of staff. It's not merely yet another paperwork-hurdle to leap over.

 

[mattKnight]

The important thing to bear in mind is that a SOP is supposed to be a procedure you follow, written in a way that helps members of staff. It's not merely yet another paperwork-hurdle to leap over.

Wow! I wih more people thought like that. ISO9002 is often designed in entirely the opposite way, usually by people who don't do the job that is being documented and without asking the people who do.

Take Care

Matt
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

 

[ttmac]

Have a look at the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL)

http://www.itil.co.uk/

 

[gbaughma]

The other thing to remember is this; procedures should be supported by policy. Like a pyramid.

For example, here's a simple "Sample" policy/procedure.

Policy: Company vehicles will have oil changes every 3000 miles.

Procedure: Administrative staff will take company car to valvoline and use the company's fleet discount card and pay for a standard oil change using the company's credit card.

.... in this way, you have a PROCEDURE that supports a POLICY, but you can change the procedure (Say JiffyLube offers your company a better deal) without going through the policy change process.

When writing procedures, keep in mind that they should have a supporting policy. And the procedure should fall within that policy. Don't forget, in a policy, to define who the policy applies to.... i.e.

Policy: Password Policy 1.0
Purpose: To maintain the data integrity of the company
Scope: All permanent employees, part-time employees, and vendors given access to company data.
Definition: Passwords will expire no more than 95 days, and must meet the following requirements: A minimum of 8 characters, including 3 of the 4 following: Upper case, lower case, numbers, non-alpha characters (i.e. #$%^*)

Procedure ID: Password Procedure
Policy: Supports Password Policy 1.0
Procedure: IT Department will insure that all accounts have password expiration set to expire no more than 95 days, and meets password complexity requirements as set forth by Password Policy 1.0.


.... as you can see, the policy states what must be done, the procedure states HOW it's done.



Just my 2¢

"In order to start solving a problem, one must first identify its owner." --Me
--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[SQLBI]

Thanks for all the suggestions here guys, should help point us in the right direction.

Cheers,
Leigh

The problem with common sense is that it isn't that common!

 

[gbaughma]

LeighMoore:

No problem... hope it helped.

I just recently had to write all of a bank's IT policies for which I consult. 'Twas a lot of work, but I used the above format, and it made it go much smoother.



Just my 2¢

"In order to start solving a problem, one must first identify its owner." --Me
--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[MasterRacker]

http://www.bizmanualz.com/samples/index.php

http://www.ucsc.edu/ppmanual/pdf/guide.pdf

http://www.inshealth.org/documents/...re PowerPoint Presentation.ppt#259,2,Policies

v. Procedures

_____
Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]

 

[MasterRacker]

http://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/cam/cam301-02.html

_____
Jeff
[small][purple]It's never too early to begin preparing for [/purple]International Talk Like a Pirate Day
"The software I buy sucks, The software I write sucks. It's time to give up and have a beer..." - Me[/small]