Infrastructure and Platform Management Handbook
A Comprehensive Guide to ITIL/ITSM Infrastructure and Platform Management Best Practices
Welcome
Welcome to the Infrastructure and Platform Management Handbook, a comprehensive guide designed for IT professionals, infrastructure teams, and organizations seeking to establish, improve, or optimize their infrastructure and platform management practices aligned with ITIL 4 and industry best practices.
This handbook provides a structured approach to managing IT infrastructure and platforms, covering everything from strategy and architecture to operations, automation, and continuous optimization. It addresses on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments, providing practical guidance for modern infrastructure challenges.
What You Will Learn
This handbook covers the complete infrastructure and platform management lifecycle:
Strategy and Planning
- Infrastructure strategy development and roadmapping
- Capacity planning and demand management
- Technology selection and evaluation
- Investment planning and business cases
Architecture and Design
- Infrastructure architecture patterns and principles
- Cloud architecture (IaaS, PaaS, hybrid, multi-cloud)
- Network design and security architecture
- High availability and disaster recovery design
Build and Deployment
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC) practices
- Automated provisioning and configuration
- Container platforms and orchestration
- CI/CD for infrastructure
Operations and Management
- Monitoring, observability, and alerting
- Incident response and troubleshooting
- Patch management and maintenance
- Capacity and performance management
Governance and Optimization
- Infrastructure governance frameworks
- Cost management and FinOps
- Security and compliance
- Continuous improvement and modernization
How This Handbook is Organized
The handbook is structured into 6 parts containing 19 chapters:
| Part | Focus | Chapters |
|---|---|---|
| Part I | Foundations | Chapters 1-3 |
| Part II | Architecture and Design | Chapters 4-7 |
| Part III | Build and Deployment | Chapters 8-10 |
| Part IV | Operations and Management | Chapters 11-14 |
| Part V | Governance and Controls | Chapters 15-16 |
| Part VI | Implementation Guide | Chapters 17-19 |
Key Frameworks
The Infrastructure Lifecycle
This handbook is built around the complete infrastructure lifecycle:
| Phase | Description |
|---|---|
| Plan | Strategy development, capacity planning, technology evaluation |
| Design | Architecture design, standards definition, solution design |
| Build | Provisioning, configuration, automation development |
| Deploy | Deployment execution, testing, validation |
| Operate | Monitoring, maintenance, support, incident response |
| Optimize | Performance tuning, cost optimization, modernization |
| Retire | Decommissioning, migration, data archival |
8 Critical Success Factors
- Executive Sponsorship - Leadership commitment to infrastructure investment and modernization
- Clear Infrastructure Strategy - Defined architecture principles, standards, and roadmap
- Skilled Infrastructure Teams - Investment in talent development and modern skills
- Modern Toolchain - Appropriate automation, monitoring, and management tools
- Automation First - Infrastructure as Code and automated operations as default
- Security Integration - Security embedded in infrastructure design and operations
- Cost Awareness - FinOps practices and continuous cost optimization
- Continuous Improvement - Regular assessment and optimization of infrastructure
6 Key Performance Indicators
| KPI | Target |
|---|---|
| Infrastructure Availability | Greater than 99.95% |
| Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) | Less than 1 hour |
| Change Success Rate | Greater than 98% |
| Patch Compliance | Greater than 95% |
| Automation Coverage | Greater than 80% |
| Cost Variance | Less than 10% from budget |
5 Maturity Levels
- Ad-hoc - No formal processes, reactive management, manual operations
- Managed - Basic processes, some monitoring, limited automation
- Defined - Standardized processes, documented architecture, IaC adoption
- Measured - Metrics-driven, proactive management, comprehensive automation
- Optimized - Continuous improvement, self-healing, predictive operations
Who Should Read This Handbook
This handbook is designed for:
- Infrastructure Managers overseeing infrastructure teams and strategy
- Infrastructure Architects designing infrastructure solutions
- Platform Engineers building and automating infrastructure
- Cloud Engineers managing cloud platforms and services
- Network Engineers designing and operating network infrastructure
- Operations Teams monitoring and maintaining infrastructure
- IT Leaders aligning infrastructure with business objectives
- DevOps Engineers implementing infrastructure automation
- ITSM Practitioners integrating infrastructure with service management
Getting Started
New to Infrastructure Management? Start with Chapter 1: Introduction and progress sequentially through the handbook.
Focused on Cloud Strategy? Jump to Part II: Architecture and Design starting with Chapter 4: Infrastructure Architecture.
Looking for Automation Guidance? Start with Part III: Build and Deployment beginning with Chapter 8: Infrastructure as Code.
Looking for Implementation Guidance? Start with Chapter 17: Implementation Roadmap.
Experienced Practitioners? Use the Table of Contents to jump directly to topics of interest.
Navigation
Use the sidebar menu to navigate through all chapters, or visit the Table of Contents for a complete overview of all content.
This handbook is part of the ITIL/ITSM Process Documentation series.