Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Utility and Warranty
The concepts of utility and warranty are not new but they are to ITSM. Talking to many individuals, many seem confused and/or intimidated by this. Actually these concepts are quite simple to explain and understand.
In order for a product or service to be seen as creating value in the eyes of the customer it must provide both utility (fit for purpose) and warranty (fit for use). Let’s try to make things simple.
First, let us look at “Utility”. Utility is achieved in one of three ways. 1. It improves the performance. 2. It addresses constraints by removing or reducing them. 3. It improves performance and reduces constraints.
It is possible to improve performance by removing constraints by the way. But first let’s look at performance. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines performance as:
1a: the execution of an action b: something accomplished: DEED, FEAT
2: the fulfillment of a claim, promise, or request: IMPLEMENTATION
3 a: the action of representing a character in a play b: a public presentation or exhibition
4 a: the ability to perform: EFFICIENCY b: the manner in which a mechanism performs
http://www.britannica.com/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=performance&query=performance
Performance is quite simply the ability to do more in less time and/or using less efforts and/or consuming fewer resources as compared to a previously established baseline.
The world of sports is full of stories regarding athletes who have performed better than others (especially during championships) or better then they did in previous years.
But improving performance is not always possible or the desired outcome. At some point in time the costs and efforts required to improve performance far outweigh the (potential) benefits. This is where we turn our attention to the removal of constraints. A constraint is a restriction, an inability to execute a specific task or activity. Earlier in my career I was managing a team of trainers as well as being a trainer myself. I needed to be more accessible to my team. So I had to look at purchasing a new mobile phone that would allow me to access my email and the internet. By doing this, I removed a significant constraint. I had no need to address the performance aspect of utility but utility was addressed in a satisfactory manner.
But looking at utility is not enough. We have to consider the warranty aspect as well. Now the warranty is not the card found in the box of the small kitchen appliance we just bought and that tells us that the product should be free of defects for a finite period from the time of purchase.
In our case warranty is provided if four distinct conditions are met.
1. Is the service available enough?
2. Is there enough capacity?
3. Is it secure enough?
4. Is it continual enough?
Unlike utility, warranty required that all of the four conditions mentioned above are met. If even just one is missing, then the warranty aspect is not met and the value creation not realized.
Keeping with our mobile phone example, we can say that many phones give us the ability to travel across many regions and still be able to use our phones. This was not always the case. I remember that in the beginning the coverage was usually limited to major urban centers. Nowadays the coverage is lot more extensive and thus more “available” to us.
However, a customer may perceive a service to be unavailable if there is insufficient capacity. A great example of this relates to traffic gridlock in the downtown core of most major urban centers. The roads are available because they exist but the capacity to handle today’s volumes of traffic is not sufficient. It is next to impossible to expand the roads in a downtown area.
Security is a major concern in today’s technology enabled world. We have to balance our need and desire for security against not only the monetary costs but its (potential) counter effect on utility. Being too secure could impact performance and impose new constraints. Things can be so secure that the service becomes unavailable to the users. It is a difficult balancing act but it needs to be addressed.
Finally we come to the continuity of the service. I have a great example for this. In the summer of 2003, there was a huge power outage that affected many states in the USA as well as many provinces in Canada, especially Ontario. At the time I was delivering a workshop in downtown Toronto so I lived this first hand. A couple of interesting things happened. Backup and redundant systems became active; services remained available to various business customers in the unaffected regions. Things worked as designed. However in some organizations, the decision was made not to invoke any of the continuity plans. Why? The answer is simple; the business units and their customers had no power themselves. People were more interested in finding ways to go home and keeping in touch with family and loved ones. This brings me to the complaints many had that the phone system failed as well. The fact is that the phone systems worked as designed; people received a busy signal. The issue was related to the capacity of the phone systems. It simply did not have the capacity to handle all those calls made during that short period of time.
Is warranty independent of utility? Of course not! One influences and is influenced by the other. The value creation will only be realized if the utility and warranty aspects are both met.
In conclusion, we need to build our services that enable the business (and in many cases now our business customers) to perform better and/or with features that remove or reduce constraints (real or perceived) affecting the people using our services. When looking at the warranty aspect we need to design our services to be available when our customers need it. We have to build in sufficient capacity to enable utility and availability. The whole thing has to meet the security requirements from our customers and sometimes dictated by legislation as well but not to the detriment of utility or the other three warranty components. Finally the service must be provided in a continuous fashion usually to the same levels as in normal operations but often with reduced attributes such as performance or capacity. This is usually negotiated with the business and communicated to the end-user community to manage expectations.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Special: Preview Of Pink Elephant’s Upcoming Conferences
Take a look at what President David Ratcliffe and Vice President George Spalding have in store for you as they present a podcast on the 12th Annual ITSM Conference.
For more information on the 12th Annual ITSM Conference and Exhibition held February 18-21, 2008, click here.
PinkVERIFY Updated To Include ITIL V3 Service Lifecycle Processes
TORONTO, ON – January 28, 2008 – Pink Elephant today announced that its PinkVERIFY IT service management toolset reference model has now been updated in line with the recently revised IT Infrastructure Library IT service management service lifecycle model (ITIL V3).
Since 2000, software vendors have used the PinkVERIFY model as an independent reference to demonstrate that their IT service management toolsets are compatible to the workflows and definitions contained in ITIL. The PinkVERIFY “stamp of approval” is assigned once the toolset is independently verified by Pink Elephant.
The ITIL V2 to V3 update included the retention of some processes, the re-design of others and the inclusion of some new processes, hence the need to correspondingly update PinkVERIFY to reflect the structure and content in ITIL V3.
View the list of PinkVERIFY V3 processes.
“We are seeing many software vendors working to align new versions of their software to ITIL V3,” says Pink Elephant President David Ratcliffe. “This update to PinkVERIFY provides the recognition they deserve. There are now 14 PinkVERIFY logos to help distinguish how toolsets support each of the relevant specific processes in ITIL V3.”
The revised PinkVERIFY model also includes a redesigned web page with a clearer presentation of which tools support which processes.
View the current list of PinkVERIFY toolsets.
Over 30 leading IT service management vendors have products approved under the PinkVERIFY V2 model. Over the next few weeks Pink Elephant will be reaching out to those vendors to determine how each toolset matches up to the revised criteria and can therefore be assigned the new PinkVERIFY V3 status.
For more information about PinkVERIFY, please call 1-888-273-7465 or review the resource listed below:
• PinkVERIFY service overview and free white paper
Friday, January 25, 2008
Taking ITIL Beyond a Level of Control, Part 5
In part 5, Gary and Brian discuss what drives continuous improvement of a process and what needs to be considered.
Approximate Running Time: 12.0 minutes
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Less Than Four Weeks To Register For The 12th Annual International IT Service Management Conference
TORONTO, ON – January 23, 2008 – Pink Elephant is in its final month of preparations before hosting the 12th Annual International IT Service Management Conference and Exhibition, February 18-21, 2008 at the Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas.
Close to 2,000 attendees are expected, making this the largest event to date for the company, and the biggest worldwide gathering of IT management experts, practitioners and vendors dedicated to IT best practices.
“We’re overwhelmed by the enormous response, and registrations continue to pour in daily,” says Pink Elephant President David Ratcliffe. “This sets the bar well above last year, and we know our attendees have come to expect only the very best from us and from the conference. We take this responsibility very seriously.”
Listen to some of the key highlights in a video podcast featuring David and the conference’s chair and Pink’s VP, Global Events, George Spalding.
The 2008 conference – now in its twelfth highly successful year – continues a tradition of excellence and borrows its theme from Pink Floyd to illustrate how organizations can use best practices according to ITIL, ISO, COBIT, and other business frameworks to tear down silos and barriers, and to build a strong foundation and structure for security, compliance, and business process integration.
In addition to taking in the 13-track, 150+ session program, attendees can also take advantage of the conference’s Breakfast Clubs, Pre-Conference Primers and Consultant Dine-Arounds.
There are also many ITIL certification courses scheduled prior to and after the conference, allowing attendees to extend their learning while in Las Vegas and receive an education from Pink Elephant’s highly qualified and experienced faculty of ITIL experts.
For more information about the 12th Annual International IT Service Management Conference:
Visit the conference website.
View the full conference brochure (pdf).
Friday, January 18, 2008
Taking ITIL Beyond a Level of Control, Part 4
Gary and Brian take you through how to develop your management information framework in order to ensure your process is efficient and effective. This will allow you to make informed decisions on your processes. Remember, if you can’t measure it you can’t manage it!
Approximate Running Time: 20.0 minutes
Pink Elephant Staff Among The First ITIL Educators Worldwide To Receive ITIL Expert Certification
TORONTO, ON - Pink Elephant today announced that six of its ITIL consultants passed the very first V2-V3 Service Manager Bridging Course exam leading to the ‘ITIL Expert’ certification. They were among 190 experienced ITIL V2 managers and trainers worldwide who recently took part in the pre-production exam pilot.
Pink’s newly certified staff are Pierre Bernard, Education Product Manager; Troy DuMoulin, Director of Product Strategy; Robert Kent, Director of Professional Services (South Africa); and IT Management Consultants Terry Sherman, Aaron Wolfe, Jennifer Wels. Achieving a passing grade of 80% on the 90-minute, 20-question exam is required for the certification, and to be eligible to deliver the course.
The course’s exam is still new to the industry and is only available to trainers in Authorized Training Organizations (ATOs). These are companies whose training material, internal quality systems and trainer qualifications comply with industry standards, as defined by ITIL’s Official Accreditor, APM Group (APMG). Pink Elephant has been an ATO since ITIL’s inception in the mid 1980s, and in 1997 was the first training supplier to deliver the first ITIL Foundations course in North America.
The ITIL International Qualifications Panel, of which Pierre Bernard is a member, will be reviewing the results of the pre-production V2-V3 Service Manager Bridging Course exam and will be deciding upon any necessary modifications to the questions before releasing it to the public.
The course is a five-day program that offers a very intense and focused exploration of the new and modified topics in ITIL V3. It is intended for those who hold a pre-V3 Managers Certificate in IT Service Management, or who have at least 12 V3 credits earned through a combination of pre-V3 Practitioner courses. Candidates must also be proficient in ITIL’s terminology and processes.
View more course information.
Read the white paper Demystifying The ITIL V3 Certification Path, for a quick overview of the V3 certification scheme and where you fit in.
Taking ITIL Beyond a Level of Control, Part 3
Join Gary Case and Brian Price as they provide an understanding of governance within the process implementation as it pertains to the roles of process management and finding the right people to undertake those roles.
Approximate Running Time: 14.0 minutes
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Pink Elephant Anuncia Su Cuarta Conferencia Anual De Usuarios De Servicios De TI
México, D.F., 17 enero de 2007 - Pink Elephant, líder mundial en educación, conferencias y consultoría estratégica de Administración de Servicios de TI, anunció que como parte de sus planes estratégicos para 2008, llevará a cabo la Cuarta Edición de la Conferencia Anual de Administración de Servicios de TI el 5 y 6 de marzo en el World Trade Center de la Ciudad de México.
Esta Magna Conferencia Anual de Administración de Servicios de TI de Pink Elephant, en su cuarta edición se centrará en proveer diferentes sesiones de Implementación, Casos de Éxito, Experiencias Nacionales e Internacionales, sesiones Estratégicas que apoyaran a los directores de TI a la definición de sus estrategias soportadas a través de las mejores prácticas de TI, incluyendo la Biblioteca de la Infraestructura de Tecnología de la Información (ITIL®).
“Durante este interesante marco se reunirán los tomadores de decisiones más importantes de la industria de TI de toda la región. En este evento único en su tipo los participantes tienen la oportunidad de aprender y relacionarse en un ambiente ejecutivo, escuchar importantes conferencias impartidas por expertos internacionales de la industria y conocer las mejores implementaciones de ITIL® en el mundo”, comentó José Manuel Flores, Director General de Pink Elephant en México.
El ejecutivo comentó que este será el marco para mostrar la manera en que las organizaciones puede utilizar las mejores prácticas de conformidad con estándares internacional como: ITIL ahora ISO20000, COBIT para vencer obstáculos y crear una base y estructura sólidas para el cumplimiento y la integración de procesos de negocios. Uno de los valores agregados de esta importante conferencia es la diversidad de temas tanto para principiantes como para expertos, así mismo se menciono que para las sesiones en ingles se contara con traducción simultánea con lamas alta calidad.
Esta Cuarta Conferencia Anual de Administración de Servicios de TI de Pink Elephant incluye seis tracks y más de 30 sesiones, los casos de éxito más representativos enfocados en el liderazgo de TI, sesiones para principiantes en implementación o conocimientos más estratégicos, así como un track especial que incluye la participación de organizaciones que actualmente lideran la Administración de Servicios de TI.
De las conferencias relevantes se contará con la Primer compañía en Latinoamérica en obtener la certificación de ISO20000, La mejor Implementación de ITIL a nivel Mundial del 2007, Casos Éxito de Implementación en México, Autores de ITILv3, Conferencia Magistral con presencia del Dr. George Westerman Científico del MIT Sloan School of Management hablando de la efectividad de los CIO´s, entre otras.
Los tracks son:
• Administración de TI Ejecutiva y Estratégica - Experiencias de Directores de Sistemas, expertos de la industria, profesionales de negocios y académicos sobre cómo fortalecer la integración de negocios, mejorar su liderazgo de TI y capacidades de administración ejecutivas. Incluye una sesión enfocada en las mejores prácticas del nuevo libro de ITIL, Estrategia del Servicio.
• Reuniones informativas de ITIL V3 - Sesiones útiles para aquellas organizaciones que han implementado la versión 2 y aún no incorporan la V3 en sus planes de mejora de procesos, los casos de estudio y expertos ofrecerán una reseña de los principios clave de cada uno de los cinco libros nuevos para mostrar a los asistentes cómo hacerlo.
• Habilitar la Gobernabilidad de TI a través de la ITSM - Muestra una visión de cómo las organizaciones del mundo adoptan la gobernabilidad corporativa para conseguir la transparencia de los riesgos empresariales y la protección del valor de los participantes. Da a conocer cómo se ajustan las TI, brindando los conocimientos necesarios para identificar e implementar un marco de gobernabilidad saludable de TI, incluyendo ITIL, que asegurará que una compañía cumpla con las demandas y normas comerciales de su organización.
• Dónde comenzar a implementar ITIL - Donde se verá cuál es el lugar adecuado para comenzar su implementación, diferencias entre la implementación de V3 y V2. En este bloque los oradores analizarán cómo determinar el mejor lugar para iniciar, planificar y ejecutar la comunicación y planes de educación, identificar todas las ganancias rápidas importantes y realizar la administración a través de las altas y bajas del importante primer año de ITIL.
• Implementación de Herramientas y Tecnología - Permitirá a los asistentes aprender cuáles son las tendencias más recientes en administración de infraestructura de TI, herramientas de administración de servicios, así como la manera en que otras personas han integrado la tecnología con los procesos de ITIL para obtener resultados exitosos.
• Casos de éxito de TI - Los interesados podrán preguntar acerca de sus problemas más urgentes a través de grupos de enfoque, paneles de discusión, presentaciones y mesas redondas, donde tendrán diversas oportunidades para aprender directamente de los consultores que están sumamente informados y experimentados de Pink Elephant.
La 4° Conferencia Anual de Administración de Servicios de TI de Pink Elephant está dirigida a las personas que buscan comprender cómo y por qué implementar las mejores prácticas de conformidad con ITIL o la ITSM, y a las personas que están interesadas en desarrollar y administrar una organización de TI enfocada en los negocios. El evento está dirigido a ejecutivos de TI, directores, Gerentes de Servicios y Soporte de TI, Dueños de Procesos, Auditores de TI o Consultores y Proveedores de TI.
Algunos de los Conferencistas Magistrales serán:
Dr. George Westerman, Research Scientist Center for Information Systems Research, MIT Sloan School of Management.
Michael K. Nieves, Partner, Accenture Technology, Consulting & ITIL V3 Service Strategy, Co-Author
Chris Rogers, British Petroleum
Kirk Weisler, Chief Morale Officer, Team Dynamics
George Spalding, Vice President, Pink Elephant
Troy DuMoulin, Director Product Strategy, Pink Elephant
Para obtener más información sobre la 4° Conferencia Anual de Administración de Servicios de TI de Pink Elephant, por favor llame al (55) 3544-3050 al 54 o visite el sitio Web de la conferencia para conocer las últimas actualizaciones sobre los conferencistas, formas de registro y las cuotas.
Para reservar un pase de prensa u obtener más información, por favor póngase en contacto con Mónica Portillo en .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) o con Mónica Muñoz en .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Acerca de Pink Elephant
Pink Elephant es líder mundial en las mejores prácticas de Administración de Servicios de TI, al ofrecer conferencias, educación y servicios de consultoría a empresas públicas y privadas a nivel mundial. Nos especializamos en mejorar la calidad de los servicios de TI a través de la aplicación de reconocidos esquemas de mejores prácticas, incluyendo la Biblioteca de la Infraestructura de Tecnología de la Información (ITIL®) y fuimos seleccionados como los expertos a nivel internacional para contribuir al proyecto ITIL V3.
Por Expansión En Latinoamérica Pink Elephant Hace Nuevos Nombramientos
México, D.F., 17 de enero 2008 - Pink Elephant, líder mundial en educación, conferencias y consultoría estratégica de Administración de Servicios de TI, designó a José Manuel Flores como su nuevo Director General en México y a Gerardo Reyes Retana como Director General del resto de Latinoamérica, ambos directivos estarán al frente de la empresa y serán los responsables de definir y dirigir la ejecución de las estrategias, planes y expectativas de la firma en dichas regiones, dicha decisión está sustentada en el crecimiento, expansión y penetración exitosa de Pink Elephant en el mercado de Hispanoamérica.
José Manuel Flores será el responsable del desarrollo y ejecución de las estrategias de negocios de la firma en México, entre sus principales objetivos está lograr que la compañía expanda sus servicios en toda la región, enfocando sus esfuerzos en la promoción de conferencias, educación y consultoría especializada en las mejores prácticas para la administración de los servicios de Tecnologías de Información ITIL (Biblioteca de Infraestructura de Tecnologías de Información, por sus siglas en inglés), como herramientas que facilitan los procesos de negocios, asegurando que su calidad se adapte a las necesidades del mercado, así como a fortalecer el reconocimiento de la marca.
Por su parte, Gerardo Reyes Retana, asume el cargo de Director General del resto de Latinoamérica y España, adquiriendo la responsabilidad del desarrollo y ejecución de las estrategias de negocios de la firma del en la región, cuyo objetivo será lograr que la compañía expanda sus servicios en toda la región, mediante la promoción de sus servicios y consultoría especializada en ITIL como herramientas que ayudan a la mejora de competitividad de las empresas.
Los ejecutivos informaron que Pink Elephant llevará a cabo la Cuarta Edición de la Conferencia Anual de Administración de Servicios de TI el 5 y 6 de marzo del 2008, en el World Trade Center de la Ciudad de México, la cual se centrará en proveer las herramientas y las habilidades a los directivos de las organizaciones de México y Latinoamérica para que adopten las normas y estándares de calidad relacionadas con las de las mejores prácticas en TI, incluyendo la Biblioteca de la Infraestructura de Tecnología de la Información (ITIL®).
José Manuel Flores cuenta con una trayectoria de más de 16 años en las áreas de Tecnologías de la Información, es uno de los consultores más experimentados en la implementación de la metodología de Pink Elephant, asimismo, forma parte del consejo de consultores ejecutivo de Pink Elephant Inc, su experiencia ha sido designado para dar conferencias en diversos eventos de la industria en Latinoamérica.
José Manuel Flores cuenta con la certificación de ITIL Service Manager, es Ingeniero en Sistemas con Maestría en Administración, tiene estudios de especialización en Tecnología de Información en Poitier, Francia, y cuenta con una especialización en comercio electrónico en Londres Inglaterra.
Por su parte, Gerardo Reyes Retana es licenciado en Planeación Urbana por la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana de México y tiene maestria en Information Systems Management por la Seattle Pacific University, un diplomado en Alta Dirección del IPADE y otro en Sistemas de Información Automatizada del Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México. Fue Director General de Lotus México, subsidiaria de IBM,en donde abrió el área de Consultoría de dicha firma en México, Venezuela, Colombia y Perú. En Oracle, Reyes Retana se desempeñó como director de Advanced Tecnologies para Latinoamérica y México siendo el responsable del desarrollo de la práctica de Tecnologías Avanzadas.
Acerca de Pink Elephant
Pink Elephant es líder mundial en las mejores prácticas de Administración de Servicios de TI, al ofrecer conferencias, educación y servicios de consultoría a empresas públicas y privadas a nivel mundial. Nos especializamos en mejorar la calidad de los servicios de TI a través de la aplicación de reconocidos esquemas de mejores prácticas, incluyendo la Biblioteca de la Infraestructura de Tecnología de la Información (ITIL®) y fuimos seleccionados como los expertos a nivel internacional para contribuir al proyecto ITIL V3.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Demystifying The ITIL V3 Certification Path
In last month’s PinkLink, we told you about the OGC releasing the official ITIL V3 Certification scheme. Are you thinking about getting V3 certified in 2008 but aren’t sure where you fit into the overall scheme? Do you have questions about what it all means to you?
Then, don’t miss this informative white paper written by Pink Elephant’s Education Product Manager, Pierre Bernard! Pierre is a member of the official ITIL V3 Certification Panel and here, he uncovers:
- The official V3 scheme (quick review)
- Different scenarios and options for ITIL V3 training
- Information on requirements to pass the ITIL V3 exams
Read the white paper.
Read Pierre’s blog.
Read the certification scheme report.
Complete ITIL V3 Publications Now Available On PinkATLAS
ITIL Publishers Also Offer Exclusive Discounts For PinkATLAS Subscribers
TORONTO, ON – Pink Elephant today announced another first in the ITIL community, with the availability of fully browsable IT management best practice publications in PinkATLAS, including the IT Infrastructure Library version three (ITIL V3).
PinkATLAS is an online IT Service Management (ITSM) and ITIL knowledge database that over 50 companies worldwide have used as an integral part of their IT process improvement projects. It contains dozens of white papers, multimedia files (podcasts, videos, etc.), plus hundreds of documents outlining how to deploy ITIL processes. Pink Elephant is the only IT management consulting and education company that offers this service.
Now, PinkATLAS also contains the following books:
1) The ITIL V3 lifecycle books: Service Strategy; Service Design; Service Transition; Service Operation; Continual Service Improvement; Official Introduction To The ITIL Service Lifecycle
2) The entire Van Haren Publishing ITSM library, including Pink Elephant’s Service Management Strategies That Work and Defining IT Success Through The Service Catalog
All of the books are viewable online; however, subscribers can purchase the ITIL V3 books in hard copy format at a 50% discount. Van Haren’s books are available at a 15% discount.
“PinkATLAS is much more than just a repository of documents,” says Pink Elephant President David Ratcliffe. “This one-of-a-kind resource centre builds interactivity and collaboration between us and our customers, and among the customers themselves. We’re proud to be the first to offer this valuable tool to the IT practitioner community.”
In the ‘Ask The Expert’ feature, subscribers can submit an ITIL question using the online form, and a Pink Elephant consultant will schedule a half-hour conference call to provide a response. The discussion forum is another interactive feature that lets subscribers reach out to others experiencing the same implementation challenges. Pre-defined topics are listed to initiate discussions, or subscribers can start their own discussion.
According to a recent PinkATLAS customer, “…it [PinkATLAS] has already proven to be an invaluable tool in the short time we have had access. My only regret is that we didn’t make the purchase sooner. It’s rare that an IT offering lives up to the hype, but PinkATLAS has exceeded our expectations.”
View more information about PinkATLAS.
Several PinkATLAS tutorials and demos are planned at Pink Elephant’s 12th Annual IT Service Management Conference, taking place February 18-21, 2008 at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas:
- Monday, February 18 – 1:00-5:00 p.m. (includes in-depth ITIL process demos)
- Tuesday, February 19 – 7:15-8:20 a.m.
- Wednesday, February 20 – 7:15-8:20 a.m.
- Anytime during exhibition hours at the Pink Elephant booth (#206)
For more information about the 12th Annual Conference:
Visit the conference website.
View the full conference brochure (pdf).
Monday, January 07, 2008
To V2 Or To V3 - That Is The Question
To misquote Shakespeare’s Hamlet “To V2, or to V3, that is the question”. Actually, it is not really a question of using ITIL V2 or V3, it is a question of scope, time and requirements. I am talking about your organization’s requirements, which processes need to be implemented “à la ITIL” at this time, how much time do you have (more on this later) and what resources are at your disposal.
The 10 processes and the one function found in ITIL V2’s Service Support and Service Delivery books are all found in ITIL V3. Sure there have been some modification to them but in essence they are pretty much the same. Here is a breakdown of what has changed.
- Configuration Management now covers service assets
- Request fulfillment is now defined. In V2, Incident Management used to simply have a decision box “Is this a service request – if so go to request procedure” and that was it.
- Testing takes on a more prominent role as does service validation
- Incident, Problem, Change and Release Management are relatively unchanged
- Service Catalog Management is now defined. In V2, Service Level Management used to simply say “create a service catalog” with very little information and that was it
- Financial Management is now more aligned with the corporate process and procedures
- Service Level, Availability, Capacity Management and Service Continuity are relatively unchanged
- Dealing with suppliers is now a full fledge process as well
And the list goes on.
So, should you go V2 or V3? The answer is simple. You will eventually go V3. As mentioned previously, the V2 processes are in V3. Therefore, why implement something for which the literature will be discontinued?
What you need to do, is to look at the pain points in your organization. They are known. Ask the IT staff and the end-users and they’ll tell you. Once the pain points are identified, determine the scope (which processes, number of sites, number of IT staff involved with the process once it is in place). Then you identify the timelines. Be realistic here and give yourself some time in the order of months for each process. Sure you can do some processes in parallel but you need to use the process for an extended period of time before you can claim victory. Actually, the only way to claim “victory” is that the process becomes part of everyone’s routine. A project has an end date (ok, most of the time), a process does not.
You have to look at the resources available to you. How many people understand about process design and implementation? How many people know ITIL really well? What is in place already? What tools do you have in place? Are they ITIL compatible? If the tools are not ITIL compatible, that’s OK but eventually you may have to consider investing in one.
Oh and by the way, you are already doing many of the processes defined by ITIL. You may simply be calling it something else. So they may not be 100% like the way it is in the books, but that’s OK. What is lacking is very often a set of common practices. Everyone usually has their own “best way” of doing things that work for them. I have often joked in various workshops that I have delivered that there are bad practices, good practices, best practices and of course, the ultimate practice of “my way” (which by the way is the best way – just kidding).
Look at the two dozen processes in ITIL V3. You are already doing most of them. They are often done in isolation or by only a small group of people, or the exception becomes the rule and the process is ignored.
So, V2 or V3, the answer is up to you but if I were you (and I am not) I would forgo V2 and start looking at V3. It is not that different; it is more comprehensive and covers many of the things that organizations are now doing. You see, best practices are not theoretical, they are based on practice. It is based on things that have been observed to work well in many situations and environment.
Go ahead, good luck and let us know how it is going.
CBS Late, Late Show Host Craig Ferguson Set To Kick Off Pink Elephant’s 12th Annual Conference
BURLINGTON, ON – January 7, 2008 – Pink Elephant today confirmed that Craig Ferguson, host of The Late, Late Show on CBS, will bring his unique style of humor as the opening keynote at the 12th Annual International IT Service Management Conference and Exhibition, February 18-21, 2008 at the Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas.
Officially kicking off the conference on the morning of February 19, Craig will offer up a hilarious tribute to talk shows and tie in his participation at Pink’s event with The Early Pink Show. Attendees can expect to be entertained as a ‘studio audience’, as Pink Elephant recreates Craig’s CBS show set-up on stage at the Bellagio.
Says Pink Elephant President David Ratcliffe: “Craig is full of surprises, and I’d tell everyone to be prepared for the unexpected – and one unforgettable conference kick-off!”
Craig has taken the entertainment world by storm since taking the helm of The Late, Late Show in January 2005. Within two years, his show set all-time records in three consecutive ratings sweeps. And, Craig recently received his first Emmy nomination for his writing work on the show.
Before his foray into late night, Craig had an eclectic career that encompassed music, theatre, primetime network television and movies. He wrote the feature films The Big Tease and Saving Grace. His directorial debut, I’ll Be There, won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Aspen, Dallas and Valencia film festivals. Craig was also named Best New Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival. Last year, he wrote his first novel, Between The Bridge and The River, which became a critically acclaimed best seller.
Joining Craig Ferguson as a conference keynote is:
• Daniel Pink, author of the best selling book, A Whole New Mind
• Chad Pregracke, Founder & President, Living Lands & Waters, whose very personal tale has been profiled on CNN, Today Show, NBC, MTV and in Time, People Magazine, etc.
• Wayne Cotter, comedian and talk show favorite, who has worked in the computer industry and enjoys keeping up-to-date with developments in the fast-paced IT business
For more information about the 12th Annual International IT Service Management Conference:
Visit the conference website.
View the full conference brochure (pdf).
###
Friday, January 04, 2008
Taking ITIL Beyond a Level of Control, Part 2
Listen to Gary Case and Brian Price as they define key activities to move beyond the Defined level and explain how the value of IT is perceived and acted upon through differing values. In addition, they provide an understating of the value of a process versus the maturity of a process and introduce a transition plan required to go from project to production.
Approximate Running Time: 18.5 minutes