What is Information Systems Operations Maintenance?

Information Systems Operations

IS Operations are the hub of the IS wheel and ensure systems,
applications and infrastructure operate as and when required, meeting
the requirements for which they were designed. Internal or external
teams can deliver services.

The scope of IS operations will vary depending on the size of the

organization and its business context (i.e., different industries will
require different types of IS support) but will typically cover hardware
and software management, capacity management, job scheduling, data
management, system performance management and user support.

Information Systems Maintenance

Hardware and software need frequent updates and auditors should
confirm that a formal, approved, the maintenance plan is in place and
covers pre-deployment testing, backup and restore plans, arrangements
for priority processing and user communication.

Software releases, whether as part of maintenance or business change

activity, also needs to be carefully planned to reduce risk and business
impact. Rigorous implementation planning (CISA certification
domains) needs to be applied for each release: ‘simple’ releases have
brought some organizations to a standstill because they’re not given
enough attention.

Some hardware upgrades and software releases will require system

downtime, and this too needs to be carefully orchestrated. Backup and
recovery process must be watertight, and the main user stakeholders
should be consulted throughout the process.