Capacity and availability are monitored and analyzed to manage resources and demand.

The contribution of each service system component to meeting service requirements is analyzed to successfully manage the capacity and availability of services. The efficient use of resources is managed according to the capacity and availability management strategy, which is developed to meet service requirements. It might not be possible for a service organization to influence demand for services and the requirement to do so is not implied by the phrase “manage resources and demand.” Efficient use of resources can include both reactive and proactive responses. Proactive responses are possible in situations in which the service provider can influence demand.

Actual capacity and availability data are monitored regularly. This actual data are also compared regularly with thresholds, descriptions of normal and expected use, and business objectives. These comparisons identify exception conditions in the service system, breaches or near-breaches of service requirements, and changes in the patterns of use of service system resources that can indicate trends. For example, regular monitoring of actual service resource use against estimated service resource use might reveal a pending breach of service requirements.