Pink President's Blog

We Can Have Fun With ITSM - But Watch Out, “Da Ali G” Of ITIL’s About!

Seems we’re surrounded by disclaimers these days. Whether it’s McDonalds advising you that their coffee is actually hot (thank goodness!) or the airlines telling you to wear your seat belt because there might be turbulence (”... and for those of you who haven’t been in a car since about 1964, you insert the clip into the buckle like this ....”) - well now it’s our turn!

Yes, disclaimers have arrived in the world of ITSM blogs.

I’m referring to the IT Skeptic’s new initiative - “The ITIL Wizard”. I’m sure many of you are already familiar with the IT Skeptic’s blog - providing lively discussion (no arguments, just healthy debate) about the dos, don’ts and politics of ITSM. His latest venture - The ITIL Wizard - is a spoof(-ish) Agony Aunt column intended as just a neat little diversion from the more mundane world of hard facts and strong opinions. The ITIL Wizard invites his readers to send in their most pressing questions about life with ITSM, giving Mr Skep the opportunity to weave large doses of wit, irony & silliness into his answers. And who can blame him for that? It’s always good when we can lighten things up, right?

Oh if only life was so simple! Seems like some folks are taking his “advice” too much to heart.

“No, no - it’s just a bit of fun!” After just a few days of starting the new Wizard “service” The IT Skeptic has had to post this note:

Please be aware that The ITIL Wizard is satire. It is not meant to be taken seriously, it should not be used as advice on ITIL or anything else, it is frequently wrong (though occasionally alarmingly right).

Here’s a sample:

Dear Wiz

I hear ITIL is just a blend of TQM and PRINCE2. Is that right?

I’m sitting the ITIL exams soon and the answer to this might help me.

Bill Denk
Experienced ITIL Consultant

Dear Bill

Yes, pretty much. There are bits of the old IBM red books thrown in there too for operations stuff, but mostly it is just TQM. Every ITIL process in the books is built around the Demming Cycle of Plan-Check-Do-Act. There’s a whole book on that: Continuous Service Improvement, though it somehow makes the four steps into seven and the diagrams show it as eight so I’m a bit confused about that aspect.

And as you say, the rest basically comes from PRINCE2, or so I gather. They are both created by OGC (that’s the British Government’s Office of Government Computing) so that would make sense.

Good luck
The ITIL Wizard

As you can see, you need to take The ITIL Wizard’s advice with a hefty pinch of salt (make that a bucket-load). Even though the example I showed is fairly short and sweet (!) I started counting the “errors” in the Wiz’s reply and ran out of fingers on my hand! Great stuff!

I guess Mr Skep knew he was in trouble when smart consultant types started posting comments to earnestly correct some of the Wizard’s bad advice! I won’t show any of those examples - you’ll have to go visit The ITIL Wizard pages yourself!

This all reminds me of “Da Ali G Show” - but in reverse (see this video of Ali G interviewing Shaquille O’Neal and you’ll see what I mean). Ali G likes to ask silly questions and make outrageous comments, but in an earnest style, trying to solicit serious answers from people who haven’t yet tumbled to the ruse. With the Wizard we have reasonable questions soliciting silly responses delivered authoritatively.

Getting back to the disclaimer idea - I guess I need to say that what I’ve written here should in no way be construed as criticism of The IT Skeptic. Mr Skep is doing a fine job, it’s that Wizard guy we have to keep a close eye on!

 

1. Some of us got caught up in it.  Like the question about how long does it take to get ITIL and he told them you should be able to stand up a service desk in 2 weeks.  I freaked out… well I though it was the real deal.

   Thanks for clarifying this blog.  Some of us didn’t see the sarcasm beacon flashing.

   -Matt

   Posted by Matthew Hooper  on  10/06  at  02:16 PM
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