Policies and Procedures TechKNOWvatioN

The Policies and Procedures TechKNOWvatioN establishes the processes needed to manage and support a distributed computing environment. Policies and Procedures focuses on defining, developing, documenting, and disseminating information related to managing and supporting a distributed computing environment. Policies and Procedures help establish standards in all facets of a technically complex environment including security, peripherals, backup and restore, purchasing, software licensing, administration, network access, application access, and help desk support to name a few.

Even though policies and procedures are an integral part of each TechKNOWvatioN, the Policies and Procedures TechKNOWvatioN exists to ensure that the various policies and procedures associated with the other technologies are consistent, usable, readable, and accessible. This TechKNOWvatioN is concerned with the ownership of the policies and procedures process, but much of the content will be supplied by other services.

• Policies and Procedures Development TechKNOWvatioN Service

The Policies and Procedures Development TechKNOWvatioN Service is the set of services that develops policies and procedures for managing and supporting a technically complex environment. Policies and Procedures Development is concerned with consistency, usability, readability, and presentation of the policies and procedures. The actual development of the content of the policies and procedures themselves typically resides with the technical specialists outside this area. Policies and Procedures Development addresses the question: "How the information should be presented?"

• Policy Guidelines

The Policy Guidelines Element is the service that develops and maintains policies for a technically complex environment. This element develops and/or collects policy information for the organization and ensures that it is accurate and available for use.

• Operational Procedures

The Operational Procedures Element is the service that develops and maintains operational procedures for a technically complex environment. Operational procedures are common, routine, daily procedures needed to support a technically complex environment. This element develops and/or collects operational procedure information for the organization and ensures that it is accurate and available for use.

• Implementation Procedures

The Implementation Procedures Element is the service that develops and maintains implementation procedures for a technically complex environment. Implementation procedures are complex, infrequent procedures needed to support a technically complex environment. This element develops and/or collects implementation procedure information for the organization and ensures that it is accurate and available for use.

• Document Management

The Document Management Element is the service involved with the storage, retrieval, and versioning of policy and procedure documents. This element is concerned with making sure policy and procedure documents are maintained accurately and reliably.

• Policy and Procedure Assessment

The Policy and Procedure Assessment Element is the service that reviews and assesses policies and procedures to determine which changes are needed and how well policies and procedures have been implemented. The element also is concerned about the organization’s compliance with policies and procedures.