Friday, February 29, 2008
To OLA Or Not To OLA, Part 4
In this weeks podcast of To OLA or Not To OLA, Laurie looks at understanding the IT Service and the IT Domains, and goes through the contents of an Operational Level Agreement (OLA).
Approximate Running Time: 12.5 minutes
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Special Alumni Rate For 2009 Announced For 13th Annual International ITSM Conference
Pink Elephant offers best special alumni rate ever to thank 12th annual event’s nearly 2,000 attendees
To thank the record-setting 2,000 IT practitioners who attended the 12th Annual International IT Service Management Conference in Las Vegas, Pink Elephant today announced an unprecedented conference special alumni rate for 2009.
2008 conference alumni who register before March 31, 2008 qualifies for a half price special alumni rate on the 2009 event and pay only US$997.50. Alumni may also sign-up co-workers from their organization for the same amount. The regular conference fee is US$1,995.
To register for the 2008 Conference Alumni Special, phone 1-888-273-PINK.
Visit the 2009 conference website.
Pink Elephant Announces The 2008 ITIL® Award Winners
Pink Elephant today announced the winners of the ITIL Awards, presented at the organization’s 12th Annual International IT Service Management Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas.
The awards honor the best in five categories.
ITIL Project of the Year: This award was presented to Allstate Insurance based on the following criteria: The ITIL initiative is a clearly defined project with dedicated management; project start date occurs at least six months before the conference; the project has clearly documented and communicated goals and objectives; the project has a demonstrated and significant commitment to ITIL best practices with involvement of certified staff; and the project has documented and measurable benefits. Past winners include the State of North Carolina and BMO Financial Group.
ITIL Practitioner of the Year: This award was presented to Sheri Cassidy, Process Engineering Services Manager, Progress Energy based on the following criteria: The individual shows a significant commitment to ITIL best practices; the individual began his/her ITIL involvement at least six months before the conference start date; the individual is committed to sharing knowledge about ITIL outside of his/her organization; and the individual works for a practitioner organization. Past winners include John Wink of Microsoft Canada and Mark Diamond of Safeco.
Pink Elephant Student of the Year: This award was presented to Bhargav Shah, Bearing Point. This award is given to the individual with the highest exam score in the ITIL Service Manager course – the most advanced level of ITIL education involving a high degree of commitment from the student. Successful completion of the course requires a demonstrated knowledge of the goals, benefits and challenges of the Service Support and Service Delivery processes, and the integration points between those processes. International examination institutions provide nominations for this award.
ITIL Case Study of the Year: This award was presented to Dalibor Petrovic. This award, determined by conference attendees, revolves around the delivery of a case study at the conference that demonstrates concrete examples of successful ITIL implementation. Past winners include Liberty Insurance and Universal Weather and Aviation.
Innovation of the Year: This new award recognizes a product or service developed by the vendor community that has made the greatest contribution to IT Service Management in the last calendar year. The first winner of this award is StackSafe for the StackSafe Test Center.
“For years, Pink Elephant has worked diligently to increase awareness of ITIL’s best practice framework on a global scale,” says George Spalding, Pink Elephant Vice President. “Part of this work has included the introduction of an awards program to further illustrate and promote ITIL’s benefits. While competition was fierce, this year’s winners truly exemplify the best ITIL has to offer. Congratulations to all.”
The awards will be presented next at the 13th Annual International IT Service Management Conference and Exhibition, taking place February 22-25, 2009 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Nominations are now being accepted for the next ITIL Awards. A nomination form is available on Pink Elephant’s website and must be submitted by December 12, 2008. Case study proposals are also being accepted and details are available here. For more information about the 2009 conference, click here or call 1-888-273-PINK.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Pink Elephant Recruiting IT Management Consultants
Pink Elephant today announced its efforts to recruit IT Management Consultants to meet the increasing needs of Pink’s customers across North America.
With the ever growing adoption of ITIL® and other quality frameworks, more businesses are choosing Pink than ever before to help implement IT Service Management (ITSM) best practices. Pink is seeking skilled intermediate and senior consultants to join its education and consulting service lines. The successful senior candidates will be expected to:
- Guide customers through strategic planning processes
- Develop IT Service Management options and recommendations tailored to customer environments
- Assist them through the development and implementation of ITSM solutions using best practices frameworks such as ITIL, COBIT®, and ISO 20000
The successful intermediate candidates will be expected to deliver courses from all levels of the official ITIL Qualification Scheme, COBIT, and other quality frameworks, as well as Pink Elephant’s custom education workshops and courses. In addition, all consultants are expected to conduct process assessments, ITIL Overviews, Executive Overviews, Road Map planning and Process Design Workshops.
“This is a very exciting time at Pink Elephant,” says Pink Elephant President David Ratcliffe. “Throughout our rich history, we’ve been a major driving force on the world stage introducing ITIL and IT management best practices through education, consulting and conferences. We hold a strong belief that our people – Pinkers – are key to our continued innovation and success.”
To learn more about this job posting as well as view other opportunities available at Pink Elephant, go to Careers @ Pink
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Pink’s Annual Conference A Phenomenal Success
If you attended Pink Elephant’s 12th Annual International IT Service Management Conference and Exhibition last week in Las Vegas, you experienced the industry’s most dynamic event! And, you probably have some memories that will last a lifetime. We sure do!
Want to experience the best of the best? Then watch these two short clips that feature all the thrills, excitement and exhilaration the conference had to offer!
Did we mention that President David Ratcliffe rode an elephant?
Watch ‘Memories Of 2008’ video.
Watch ‘Behind the Elephant’ video.
The Service Model
There is an important concept that ITIL V3 uses throughout the lifecycle; the model. There are many models suggested in the five core books. There are models for services, requests, incidents, problems, changes, releases and others. I will explore them one at a time, starting with the service model.
A service model helps define the service strategy for a particular market space. Think of a model as an architect’s blueprint. The blueprint will describe the process and functions supporting a service and the interactions between the service assets and the customer assets to create value. As it was previously discussed in this blog, value is created by a combination of utility and warranty. Interaction means demand connects with the capacity to serve. Service agreements specify the terms and conditions in which such interaction occurs with commitments and expectations on each side. The outcomes define the value to be created for the customer, which itself rests on the utility provided to customers and the warranty.
A service model describes and defines both the structure and the dynamics of the service; which are influenced by the customer’s requirement regarding utility and warranty. The service model will be used by all phases of the lifecycle.
Service Design would be drastically simplified if your organization only had one service and one customer for that service. However, reality is that we have many services offered to many customers which may or may not have similar requirements. It will be the job of the people involved with the processes found in the Service Delivery phase to evaluate the requirements, consolidate them and to suggest solutions to the customers then, once agreed to design the solution.
The Service Transition phase will then evaluate the details of the service model before proceeding with building, testing and deploying the solution. Service Operation will then take over, dealing with monitoring, incidents, problems and requests about the solution. Service Operation personnel will use the patterns of business activity to anticipate rises and falls in the demand for the service.
The Continual Service Improvement phase ensures the feedback to the strategy, design, transition and operation processes.
There is an interesting EXAMPLE of the dynamics of a service model in the Service Startegy book. It is figure 7.8 on page 164.
Here is an example on how to use the diagram. I am using an online shopping experience to illustrate this. This example is high level and does not reflect the actual sequence.
The diagram had 10 parts for a total of 14 activities. The diagram is a variation on the ISHIKAWA diagram. In order to make sense, you need to read the diagram from right to left
• Part 1 Shopping – three activities
1. Present a searchable and navigable catalog – the customer logs on to the website to shop
2. Search and sort – the website offers and has the ability to search a wide variety of products
3. Assist the shopper in selecting – The customer can simply browse or sign in as returning or new customer. There are various other sections such as help, recommendations, menus, etc.
• Part 2 Selection – two activities
4. Provide the shopping cart – The customer has the ability to select many items
5. Maintain cart contents – The shopping cart tracks the selected items and their attributes.
• Part 3 Recommendations – one activity
• Assist the shopper in selecting – provides the shopper with related items such as accessories, options, parts, etc. In the case of media such as books, CDs or DVDs the website will often provide other titles by same author, other books in same series if applicable, same genre, etc.
• Part 4 Ratings – one activity
• Assist the shopper in selecting – The website provides feedback from other customers, reviews from magazine articles, etc.
• Part 5 Assistance – two activities
6. Assign a sales specialist – can be electronic, web-based, phone, email, other. This is often done by asking the shopper if they have any inquiries or questions.
7. Answer questions – self explanatory
• Part 6 Special offers
• Provides links to other special offers to generate impulse buying. (Is this a gift? – offer gift wrapping, card, etc); the website often has a section “others also bought…”
8. Assist the shopper in closing – asks customer to proceed with check out
• Part 7 Shipping
9. Present the shipping options and their costs – from regular mail to express delivery as well as confirming stock availability. This is sometimes done by using third party vendors such as delivery companies.
• Part 8 Calculate shipping and tax information
10. Present with shipping and tax – adds shipping and handling costs if applicable as well as any applicable taxes. The tax is provided by an external party; the government. There may be many applicable taxes.
11. Obtain the final confirmation – in the case that the customer wants to add/change or remove items or cancel altogether. Websites often ask questions like “Are you sure?” or “Are you really, really sure?”
• Part 9 Submit details to shipper – one activity
12. Provide the confirmation details – the website will asks for the address, confirms it and provides delivery date. This activity may involve a third party.
• Part 10 Authorize shipment - one activity
13. Ship the items purchased – The warehouse receives order, picks it, packages it and ships it. This activity may involve a third party.
• Part 11 Payment processing
14. Complete the order – offers payment methods such as cash on delivery, cheque, credit card, gift cards or other. Payment through a website often involves a third party.
And finally
We come to the second activity 13 which is just under activity 14.
• After receiving confirmation such as proof of delivery or payment, a request for customer feedback is initiated. This can take many forms, such as an email, a phone call or a letter.
Personal take on the last activity
I would have labeled it differently such as “A” but let’s not worry about that. This activity indicates that a customer satisfaction survey may be initiated. We have learned in ITIL that we should close a record (such as an incident record) only after we have confirmed with the customer that everything is OK. However, in a shopping experience like the one depicted above, waiting for feedback before closing the order would be impractical. Not everyone will provide feedback.
Friday, February 22, 2008
To OLA Or Not To OLA, Part 3
Laurie continues her discussion on IT systems and begins to explore the service dependency model and the contents of a Service Catalog and Service Level Agreement. In addition, Laurie covers an approach to implementation.
Approximate Running Time: 9.25 minutes
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Keynotes From Late Night TV Host & Environmental Champion Open Up The 12th Annual Conference
February 19-21, 2008 – Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas
Today Pink Elephant kicked off the 12th Annual International IT Service Management Conference at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.
Today’s keynotes are:
8:30-10:00 a.m.
The Early Pink Show With Craig Ferguson
Craig Ferguson, the devilishly witty host and writer of The Late, Late Show on CBS, entered the world of late night comedy following a diverse career that encompasses film, television and the stage. Join him for a hilarious look at today’s current events as he kicks off the conference bringing his unique style of humor and insight to Pink’s stage. Craig is full of surprises, so be prepared for the unexpected!
4:30-5:45 p.m.
Chad Pregracke – Founder & President, Living Lands & Waters
In business, success is traditionally the result of developing a sound strategy, setting goals and leading a team to achieve your vision. And, because life happens, you must be continually determined since persistence translates into true accomplishments. Now, imagine that you are founding an organization called Living Lands & Waters, America’s only industrial strength river clean-up organization. Do you have to play by the same rules as the corporate world? In one word, yes!
In this compelling keynote, Chad shares a very personal tale of how he built a unique business focused on environmental clean-up using the tried and true approach of setting objectives and maintaining your leadership position – even in the shadow of adversity. His story takes you from grassroots to present day where, as president, he is responsible for setting policy, strategy and direction, as well as managing employees and a fleet of barges and workboats. Chad has another challenge that would send shivers down the spines of many leaders: inspiring the tens of thousands of volunteers involved with his restoration projects and educational workshops to continue to make a difference.
This year’s conference is the largest in Pink’s history with more than 2,000 people attending. The events team at the Bellagio has indicated that Pink’s conference is the largest in their history, too.
For more information about the 12th annual conference, click here.
Friday, February 15, 2008
To OLA Or Not To OLA, Part 2
This week Laurie discusses the concept behind business goals and IT services and differentiates between an IT service and an IT system, while providing examples of the different types of services.
Approximate Running Time: 10 minutes
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
One Week Left To Register For The Largest Global IT Service Management Conference
Record attendance expected at Pink’s 12th Annual Conference – February 18-21, 2008
TORONTO, ON - February 12, 2008 – The countdown is on for Pink Elephant’s 12th Annual International IT Service Management Conference and Exhibition! Close to 2,000 IT professionals, leading software vendors and internationally renowned IT Service Management experts will descend upon the Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas from February 18-21, 2008. Headlining the event are keynotes Chad Pregracke, founder of Living Lands & Waters; Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind; and Wayne Cotter, a regular fixture on Letterman and Leno, who will offer an interactive and entertaining perspective on solving real world IT issues.
Kicking things off on Tuesday morning is a hilarious presentation from host of CBS’ Late, Late Show, Craig Ferguson.
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 is also a large exhibition showcase with nearly 50 exhibitors on hand willing to offer valuable insight into the changing world of IT Service Management focused services and products.
For more information about the 12th Annual International IT Service Management Conference & Exhibition:
View the complete conference brochure.
Listen to a PinkPodcast covering some of the key conference highlights.
View pre- and post-conference workshops.
If you have not yet registered, you have only one week left!
Register for the conference
Send a team and save! View team discounts.
View sample itineraries.
Build your agenda.
Monday, February 11, 2008
About Resources and Capabilities
Is the concept of resources and capabilities really “new”?
Resources and capabilities are types of assets and used create value in the form of goods and services. Resources are usually consumed in some way, shape or form while capabilities are the abilities of an organization to transform the available resources into products and/or services.
Resources being items that are “consumed” are easier to explain and to understand. Resources include financial capital (money). Everything costs money and money does not grow on trees and every organization require money to function. It is the “fuel” of an organization. Other resources include the applications and the infrastructure. Application automate, enhance codify and mimic the functions and activities of the capabilities. The infrastructure is generally understood to be the hardware, software, network components, facilities components, etc. Application resources are part of the infrastructure and that the infrastructure can be viewed in layers with each layer building on the previous one. Information is the context given to data. More on this in a little while.
Capabilities include management, organization, processes, knowledge and people. Capabilities are used throughout the lifecycle of a products or service. To oversimplify things, resources are used to plan, do, check and act (Deming’s cycle) against products and services.
Before we get too ahead of ourselves, let’s explore the capabilities in more details. Management influences and is influenced by the hierarchical structure of the organization, its culture, history, and by the managers themselves. These influences can be both positive and negative. Please make sure you do not dwell only on the negative aspects but on the positive ones as well. Some questions to ask include:
• How long does it typically take for management to make a decision? Wait too long and you may miss the opportunity; respond too quickly and you may miss the mark. This is represented in one of the Service Operation conflicts of stability vs. responsiveness.
• Are decisions solely / mostly based on costs? Too much emphasis in cost cutting could result in sacrificing quality. This is represented in another of the Service Operation conflicts of cost vs. quality.
• Is management a victim of analysis paralysis? The organization might be stuck in a reactive mode instead of being proactive. However, the opposite might be true and the organization is too focused on being proactive.
There are obviously many other questions that might be asked but the management’s behavior needs to be understood in order to identify how resources are managed and how decisions affect the other capabilities as well.
Already we have touched on some aspect of the organization when we explored the management capability. The organization capability, like the management capability, influences and is influenced by the hierarchical structure of the organization, its culture, history, and by management and, again, these influences can be both positive and negative. Some of the issues raised by the organization capability might include:
• The culture of the organization
• The make up of the organization; centralized, localized, decentralized, etc.
• The customer’s perception of the organization
• Recent good or bad press
• etc
Processes are also very important capabilities. Think of it as an assembly line. Inputs go in; they get transformed through a set of activities and some outputs come out at the other end. Of course, this is an oversimplification. Processes are a lot more complex than that. They require process control capabilities such as ownership, policies, objectives, documentation and feedback mechanisms. It also requires process enablers such as process resources and process capabilities. There’s the link right there. You may have a great process but if it takes too long to accomplish anything or if it is not followed, what’s the use?
How can knowledge be a capability? The answer lies in its definition. Knowledge is putting information into context. Information (and by inference data) is a resource. This is concept is explained in the Service Transition phase in more details but basically the values stores in the fields of a database for example. The information is basically the field types. A series of numbers such as 1, 2 and 3 does not mean anything unless the fields are labeled. If 1, 2 and 3 represent temperatures or distances then we have a better but still incomplete understanding of their meaning. Knowing that distances 1, 2 and 3 relate to the distances (say in kilometers) between you and the three nearest coffees shops is knowledge. For example, management and the people through their experiences and skills placed in the context of the organization with have the capability to transform the information into knowledge. This is why information is the resource and knowledge the capability.
What about people?
People are both capabilities and resources. We employ people’s time, energy, skills and experience in various roles to help the organization produce and sell goods and services. This is the resource aspect. You do need the warm bodies through the use of their time, energy, skills and experience to execute the activities of a process, to make management decisions, to translate information into knowledge or to have an organization. In short, without people there are no capabilities and the resources certainly won’t spontaneously transform themselves into goods and services.
We can apply the concept of value creation to all the capabilities.
Utility
• Are the capabilities enhancing performance or inhibiting it?
• Are the capabilities removing or reducing constraints?
Warranty
• Are the capabilities available? Example: Management? People? Knowledge? Etc.
• Do we have enough capabilities? Example: People? Knowledge, organization? etc.
• Are the capabilities continuous enough to operate in times of crisis? Example: People? Processes? Management?
• Are the capabilities secure enough? Applies to all of course.
But can we apply the concept of utility and warranty to the resources? Of course we can. Think about it for a few seconds.
Utility
• Are the resources enhancing performance or inhibiting it? Old, obsolete infrastructure, information and untrained workforce?
• Are the resources removing or reducing constraints? are the resources constraints themselves?
Warranty
• Are the resources available? Do I have the raw materials?
• Do we have enough resources? Do I have enough for all my orders?
• Are the resources continuous enough to operate in times of crisis? Can I order more in time form same or difference source without compromising quality?
• Are the resources secure enough? Can my resources be easily stolen or spoiled?
In conclusion, capabilities and resources have been around for a long time. It is simply that the concept is new to many in IT and it is a new addition to the Service Management framework. If you think about it, you can apply the utility and warranty concepts throughout history of humankind; from the hunter-gatherers to the pyramid builders; from the Great Wall of China to the aerospace industry. What do they have in common? They all consumed resources and they all required capabilities.
It is all about integration…
Pink Elephant’s V2-V3 Service Manager Bridging Course Receives Official Accreditation
TORONTO, ON - February 11, 2008 – Pink Elephant today announced that its V2-V3 Service Manager Bridging Course received official accreditation status.
This allows Pink Elephant to deliver a five-day program to customers globally with training material that has been thoroughly assessed for compliance to industry standards, and provide the examination leading to certification.
Loyalist Certification Services (LCS) confirmed the accreditation. In June 2007, LCS became an official ITIL® Examination Institute providing full ITIL examination services, including the accreditation of Training Providers.
Pink Elephant will soon be among the first accredited Training Providers to deliver the Manager’s Bridging course to IT practitioners, February 13-17 in Las Vegas, preceding Pink Elephant’s 12th Annual International IT Service Management Conference.
The course 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.
Visit the 12th Annual Conference website.
Friday, February 08, 2008
To OLA Or Not To OLA, Part 1
With Service Level Management (SLM) becoming an integral part of all IT organizations, a Service Level Agreement (SLA) is transforming from an application-based document to an end-to-end service-based agreement of negotiated and agreed upon levels of service and support. As a result, the ability of IT to deliver these agreed upon levels has also become more visible to customers. This is where an Operational Level Agreement (OLA) comes in! An OLA is a critical component when establishing levels of service and support. Are you using OLAs to full advantage?
Join Laurie Dolan as she provides a brief overview of SLM and its definition. She goes into what OLAs are and why they’re a necessary part of an organization.
Approximate Running Time: 12.5 minutes
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Service Portfolio vs. Service Catalog
I am often asked about the differences between service catalog and service portfolio. As I always do, let us start with the official definitions.
Service portfolio
The Service Portfolio is used to manage the entire Lifecycle of all Services, and includes three Categories: Service Pipeline (proposed or in Development); Service Catalog (live or available for Deployment); and Retired Services.
Service catalog
A database or structured document with information about all Live IT Services, including those available for Deployment. The Service Catalog is the only part of the Service Portfolio published to Customers, and is used to support the sale and delivery of IT Services.
As we can see, the service portfolio contains past, present and future services. The service catalog contains the present and the services “available for deployment”. End of discussion. That’s it, that’s all as my dad used to say. But of course it is not the end.
I would argue that currently all IT organizations offer services. They may not be exactly like the ones described in best practice documents or that they may not even be recognized as services. Regardless, it is important to recognize and accept this. So you read the best practice guidance and decide that you want to have best practice services in your IT organization. But where do you start?
Start with an inventory of what your IT department does. Ask IT folks what services they think they are offering. Ask customers and end-user. You now have a draft version of your service catalog. Now at this point your service portfolio only contains the “present” services. Let us assume that you have nothing “major” in the works so there are no services proposed or under development at this time therefore your service pipeline is empty. You have never retired a service so your “retired services” section is empty as well. It is understood that your “present” services are not aligned with best practices but that’s ok.
You could also start with an assessment of the current situation in your IT department. You may conduct a self assessment or hire a consulting organization to this for you so that you have an “unbiased” view of the situation. Just make sure the assessment does not take too long or cost too much.
ITIL V3 introduced to us IT folks the concept of service assets or service as assets. I am not going to get into a discussion on what constitutes an asset other than we are also told by best practice that assets can (and should) be Configuration Items (CIs). This means that the service will be recorded in the Configuration Management System (CMS) and will have various attributes. This supports the definition of the service catalog mentioned earlier.
Let us assume that you decide to create a service “à la best practice” to replace an exiting, very important, but deficient service. But wait, we just saw that a service is a Configuration Item, therefore it falls under the scope of Change Management. This means that you have to submit a request for change (RFC) when you want to propose your new service. This is good. Now you have an entry for the “proposed/under development” section of your service pipeline (future services).
Let us assume that everyone loves your idea and gives you the go-ahead to proceed with the development. The status attribute of the “new” service will change from “proposed” to “under development”. As you have embraced best practices, your service now goes through its service design phase. This may take a few iteration but we already knew that. So now you are ready for deployment. Wait a minute! The service transition phase tells us that the “new” service must be properly transitioned and this includes “testing”. Only when all tests are declared successful can the service be made available for deployment. Assuming all tests are successful, your service catalog has a new entry under the “available for deployment”.
Let me use an analogy here. My son likes to play a particular video game. This is the “existing” service. (Ok I am oversimplifying but indulge me). He learns through much hype and marketing that the next version will be available in stores in a couple of months. Now the service catalog has the existing version and the “to be available soon” version. People can either pre-order the new version of the game or wait in line outside the nearest store to buy it as soon as it hits the store shelves. Of course as soon as my son has acquired the new version, the “old” one is “retired” to some dark corner of his room. However retired does not necessarily means that it magically disappears. Retired is a stage in the Lifecycle of many Configuration Items (such as services). In this case my son may decide to play with the previous version or sell it to a second hand store. But the game manufacturer no longer sells or supports the “old version”. From their perspective it is retired.
So now you deploy your “new” service. It is a great success. Everyone loves it. Promotions and bonuses for all! (OOPPS, sorry this only happens in movies…). Of course along the way you have updated your service portfolio, catalog and various databases. You are now ready to submit a request for another new service and you are also ready to add your “retired” service to the “retired” section of your portfolio.
So now your portfolio has entries in the past, present and future sections. The service catalog has entries in the present and soon to be available sections. Congratulations! I know that I have oversimplified everything. I know first hand how difficult it can be to a) convince people (especially management), b) create the portfolio and the catalog c) create the processes, procedures and tools required d) get people’s buy-in and e) etc, etc, etc.
My personal take on the service portfolio
I have done of bit of research on products offered by some large organizations. I have found for example that car manufacturers not only have many car divisions but may also offer trucks, motorcycles, small engines, small planes and recreational vehicles to name a few. I have found that financial institutions may offer personal banking, business banking, credit cards, investments or even insurance. And the list goes on. This is their portfolio of products. The catalogs are based on their lines of business. Let us assume that I am in the market for a car. I understand that the manufacturer offers more than cars to offer me but at this time I don’t want to see their entire portfolio, just the “car catalog”. If I am in the market for personal banking, it is unlikely that the financial institution will show me the “business banking catalog”. Neither the bank nor the car manufacturer will let me see or even talk about the proposed new products or the ones still under development (pipeline).
Why can’t your IT organization use the same approach based on your lines of business? Remember that it is all about IT and Business integration.
In conclusion, start small. Don’t try to do everything at once. Use analogies to explain the concepts. It will be easier for people to accept them and to apply them to their situation.
Note:
By the way I will be away the next two weeks to our annual ITSM conference in Vegas. I am delivering a V2-V3 Manager Bridge course as a pre-conference event then presenting at our conference. I will keep updating this blog even while I am away. So if you are going to our conference, why don’t you look me up?
Friday, February 01, 2008
Taking ITIL Beyond a Level of Control, Part 6
Gary and Brian conclude Taking ITIL Beyond the Level of Control with a discussion on tool considerations and how the CMDB is at the center of the ITSM system. They continue with different viewpoints and provide examples of integration points.
Approximate Running Time: 7.5 minutes