{"id":152138,"date":"2026-03-03T13:47:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pmgacademy.com\/?p=152138"},"modified":"2026-03-09T18:57:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T21:57:00","slug":"the-operate-activity-in-itil-5-ensuring-stability-and-reliability-of-digital-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandbox2.institutopmg.com\/en\/articles\/itil\/the-operate-activity-in-itil-5-ensuring-stability-and-reliability-of-digital-products\/","title":{"rendered":"The Operate Activity in ITIL 5: Ensuring Stability and Reliability of Digital Products"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In today\u2019s dynamic technology ecosystem, building an innovative product is only half the battle. Real value is realized by the customer when that product runs stably, securely, and predictably day-to-day. <a href=\"https:\/\/sandbox2.institutopmg.com\/en\/itil-version-5-launch-official-information-pmg-academy\/\">In ITIL 5, this responsibility falls under the <\/a><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/sandbox2.institutopmg.com\/en\/itil-version-5-launch-official-information-pmg-academy\/\"><b>Operate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> activity.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moving away from legacy views that treated operations as purely reactive &#8220;firefighting,&#8221; ITIL 5 positions it as a strategic stage of the <\/span><b>Service Value Chain<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In this article, we\u2019ll explore how this activity ensures service reliability and why concepts like <\/span><b>SRE<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>Observability<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have become indispensable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Read also: <a href=\"https:\/\/sandbox2.institutopmg.com\/en\/articles\/itil\/the-definitive-guide-to-itil-version-5-foundation\/\">The Definitive Guide to ITIL 5<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b>The Purpose of the Operate Activity in ITIL 5<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The core objective of the Operate activity in ITIL 5 is to maintain and monitor digital products and their supporting systems to ensure agreed-upon performance and reliability. This is where the organization&#8217;s <\/span><b>Service Value System (SVS)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> proves its effectiveness in the real world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the <\/span><b>Build<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>Transition<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> activities focus on creation and deployment, the <\/span><b>Operate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> activity focuses on sustainability and support. It involves:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Running technology platforms and systems.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Continuous monitoring and event processing.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conducting routine tests (security and continuity).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Managing backups and preventive maintenance.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A key point highlighted by the framework is that successful operations should, for the most part, be invisible to the user. If the customer notices operations, it\u2019s usually because of a failure in availability or performance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Reliability and Observability: The Pillars of Modern Operations<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To handle the complexity of today\u2019s digital environments, ITIL 5 integrates advanced concepts that elevate operational management. Two terms stand out:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Reliability<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reliability is the ability of a product or service to perform its intended function for a specific period. To ensure this, many organizations are adopting <\/span><b>SRE (Site Reliability Engineering)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. SRE is a discipline that applies software engineering concepts to infrastructure and operations problems, creating ultra-scalable and highly reliable systems.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Observability<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s no longer enough to just &#8220;monitor&#8221; if a server is up. Observability is the ability to understand the internal state of a complex system by analyzing its external outputs, such as metrics, logs, and traces. With a solid observability strategy, teams in the Operate activity can identify risks and bottlenecks before they turn into incidents.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><b>The Operate Activity Workflow<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To ensure that operations are streamlined rather than chaotic, ITIL 5 defines a clear workflow consisting of three essential steps:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Assess Transitioned Solutions and Operational Requirements:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Before taking control, the operations team must ensure the product meets the readiness criteria defined during the design phase.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Plan Operation Activities and Confirm Resources:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This involves scheduling manual tasks and configuring automated routines, ensuring the right tools and people are available.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Execute Operational Plans and Report Status:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This is the day-to-day execution where product status is communicated to stakeholders and any deviation is logged for investigation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><b>Integration with the Value Chain and Continual Improvement<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Operate activity is not an isolated silo. It is a rich source of data for the rest of the Value Chain. Data generated during operations provides valuable inputs for:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Discover:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Identifying new user needs based on actual behavior.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Design:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Improving the design of future products to make them easier to operate.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Support:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Providing immediate context for incident resolution.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, the activity is supported by critical management practices, such as <\/span><b>Monitoring and Event Management<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>Infrastructure and Platform Management<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>How Does This Benefit Your Career and Your Company?<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mastering the Operate activity in ITIL 5 transforms the IT professional. You move from being a &#8220;console operator&#8221; to becoming a value-focused <\/span><b>Reliability Engineer<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>For the Company:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It reduces downtime, enhances information security, and ensures that technology investments yield the expected return through stable services.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>For the Professional:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It opens doors to cutting-edge fields like SRE and <\/span><b>AIOps<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (AI applied to operations)\u2014positions that are highly valued in digital-native companies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Take the Next Step in Your Professional Journey<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Understanding the theory of operations is just the beginning; applying these concepts in complex environments requires the right training. At <\/span><b>PMG Academy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, our courses are designed to turn technical knowledge into strategic authority, preparing you for official ITIL certifications with a focus on real-world market practice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Explore our ITIL courses and become a Digital Reliability expert!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Does your company already use SRE or Observability practices in its operations? Share your experience below, and let\u2019s exchange insights on the future of IT management!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In today\u2019s dynamic technology ecosystem, building an innovative product is only half the battle. Real value is realized by the customer when that product runs stably, securely, and predictably day-to-day. In ITIL 5, this responsibility falls under the Operate activity. Moving away from legacy views that treated operations as purely reactive &#8220;firefighting,&#8221; ITIL 5 positions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8074],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-itil"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox2.institutopmg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox2.institutopmg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox2.institutopmg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox2.institutopmg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85233"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox2.institutopmg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152138"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox2.institutopmg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152141,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox2.institutopmg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152138\/revisions\/152141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox2.institutopmg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox2.institutopmg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox2.institutopmg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}