ISO 20000 - Capacity Plan Template

What is capacity planning?

Capacity planning estimates future demand for IT services and ensures that the requisite resources are available when needed. It is an integral part of IT Service Management, as it helps avoid service disruptions due to resource constraints.

The objective of capacity planning is to ensure that the IT service provider has the appropriate mix of resources (e.g., people, process, technology, facilities, equipment, tools, materials, information, financial) to meet the current and future agreed on needs of the business, at an acceptable level of quality and cost.
Capacity planning ensures that the resources needed to deliver the IT services are available when required, at a price that the business can afford, and at an acceptable level of quality.

In ISO 20000, capacity planning is addressed in section 9.2 of the standard. The process is responsible for ensuring that sufficient capacity is available to meet future demand for IT services. It consists of the following steps:
The capacity planning process is responsible for the following activities:
1. Identifying the future needs of the business for IT services.
2. Forecasting the future demand for IT services.
3. Identifying any capacity constraints that may impact the ability to meet future IT service demands.
4. Develop plans to address any capacity constraints that are identified
5. Monitoring and reviewing the capacity of the IT services regularly.

Capacity planning strategies

There are four capacity planning strategies in ISO 20000:

1. Limit utilization

The first strategy is to limit utilization. This means that you put in place systems and controls to ensure that your IT infrastructure is manageable. One way to do this is to set utilization thresholds and alerts so that you can act before problems occur.

2. Increase capacity

The second strategy is to increase capacity. This may involve adding more hardware, software, or personnel to your IT infrastructure.

3. Improve efficiency

The third strategy is to improve efficiency. This means ensuring your IT infrastructure is being used as efficiently as possible. One way to do this is to review your process and procedures to identify areas where improvements can be made.

4. Redesign processes

The fourth strategy is to redesign processes. This means looking at your current processes and procedures and identifying ways to improve them. This may involve changing the way that your IT infrastructure is used or redesigning processes to make them more efficient.

The capacity planning process in five steps  :

1. Establish the current and future capacity requirements: This step establishes the system's future capacity requirements based on business goals, objectives, and plans. Growth, seasonality, expansion, and contraction must be considered. Estimates of future demand need to be based on historical trends and other relevant data.
2. Identify the capacity increments needed to meet the future requirements: Based on the requirements established in step 1, identify the capacity increments (i.e., additional capacity) required to meet those future requirements.
3. Determine the most cost-effective way to provide the required capacity increments: Once the capacity increments have been identified, the most cost-effective way to provide the required capacity needs to be determined. This includes options such as scaling up (increasing the capacity of existing system components), scaling out (adding new system components), or combining both.
4. Identify risks and mitigation strategies associated with the chosen capacity solution: There are always risks associated with any capacity solution. These risks must be identified, and mitigation strategies put in place to mitigate them.
5. Monitor capacity and performance and modify the capacity plan as needed: Even after the capacity solution has been implemented, it is essential to monitor power and performance and adjust the capacity plan as required. This step helps to ensure that the system can meet future capacity requirements.

Different Types of Capacity Planning

Capacity planning determines the production capacity needed by an organisation to meet changing demands for its products or services. The purpose of capacity planning is to ensure that sufficient resources are available to meet demand without excessive over-capacity and associated costs.
There are different types of capacity planning, depending on the scope and focus of the planning. Here we will discuss different types of capacity planning in the context of ISO 20000

1. Strategic Capacity Planning

Strategic capacity planning looks at an organization's long-term goals and objectives and plans for the resources needed to achieve these. This type of capacity planning is typically done at the organizational level.

2. Tactical Capacity Planning

Tactical capacity planning looks at the near-term needs of an organization and plans for the resources required to meet these. This capacity planning is typically done at the departmental or business unit level.

3. Operational Capacity Planning

Operational capacity planning looks at an organization's day-to-day or week-to-week needs and plans for the resources required to meet these. This capacity planning is typically done at the team or individual level.

4. contingency Capacity Planning

Contingency capacity planning is typically done at the organizational level and looks at planning for unexpected increases in demand or unforeseen events that could impact production. This type of capacity planning ensures sufficient resources are available to meet customer demand in the event of an unexpected increase or unforeseen circumstance.

5. Deployment Capacity Planning

Deployment capacity planning looks at the capacity needs of an organization during the deployment of new or modified applications. This type of capacity planning ensures sufficient resources are available to support the new or modified applications.

Benefits of capacity planning

1. Capacity planning helps ensure that service management processes have sufficient resources to meet service demands.
2. It helps avoid service disruptions due to a lack of capacity and ensures that new services can be introduced in a controlled and managed manner.
3. It enables effective utilization of resources and can help reduce costs.
4. It helps ensure that services are designed and delivered robust and scalable manner.
5. It can help identify potential performance bottlenecks and areas for improvement.