Provides procedures and information to administer run the system, product or application. Includes scheduled operations, unique tasks, troubleshooting, auditing, and best practices.

The operations guide is the authoritative guidebook of how things are done in your business. It gives you an effective way of communicating policy and procedures.

Content will vary from business to business, but the structure of an operations manual is universal. It should be comprised of the following areas:
        Company History, Vision & Organization
        Products & Services
        Policies
        Position Statements
        Systems (Action Plans)

The Operations Guide contains the following topics:

  Introduction
        Purpose and Objectives
        Audience
  General System Information
        Overview
        Key Contacts
        Environment and Assets
              Facilities
              Hardware Inventory
              Software Inventory
              Network Inventory
              Interfaces
  Operations, Administration and Maintenance
        Processing Overview
        Responsibility
        Operations Calendar
        Operating Procedures
  Maintenance and Troubleshooting
        Change Management
        Configuration Management
        Server Administration
        Account Administration
        System & Software Administration and Maintenance
        Database Administration and Maintenance.

Scroll down to the IT Operations Guide example below.