Organizing for ITIL: Getting it Done with Existing Staff

ITIL makes sense in concept: focus IT efforts on the support and delivery of services that meet the needs of the business. Manage risk. Improve. Rinse and Repeat. It’s really a common sense approach, and it’s hard to argue with that.

The CIO who attends a 60 minute talk about IT Service Management likes what she hears, but at 2:00 AM she wakes up with some nagging questions:

So… How do we actually DO this? (more…)

Is your Configuration Management System Built to Last?

Many IT Organizations have implemented a Configuration Management System to track and control IT Service Assets. As I mentioned in my earlier article “Don’t be Intimidated by ITIL”, this system doesn’t necessarily need to be an elaborate and costly commercial product. It just needs to have sufficient scale, features, and capabilities to meet the current and future needs of your particular business. (more…)

ITIL certifications rank among highest paying in IT

According to a study by TechRepublc, the ITIL Foundations Certification is the 3rd highest paying certification in IT. The two certifications that rank higher (PMP and CAPM) are Project Management based and thus not necessarily specific to IT, making the ITIL cert the highest paying “pure IT” cert on the list. (more…)

Economic Challenges Present Opportunities for Great CIOs

A lot of CIO’s are facing the specter of reduced or frozen IT budgets as the US economy slows and pundits toss around the dreaded “R” word. However, a frozen IT budget can actually present opportunities if it encourages a little healthy self examination. Unfortunately, IT divisions are often paralyzed when these things happen. Instead of taking a hard look at processes and asset management, a lot of IT “leaders” exhibit the tendency to simply limp along and wait for the money to return. (more…)

ITIL for the SMB space: Why wait?

I wrote an article on CIO.com regarding the importance of ITIL processes for the SMB space:

When it comes to smaller IT organizations, this means missing the opportunity to “design in” great service oriented processes at a relatively early stage, before bad habits and inefficient processes have a chance to become company culture.

Read the full article here:

Does Version 3 expand ITIL beyond Operations?

Originally posted in a response to a comment on my article on CIO.com

From a practical standpoint, I have always viewed the discipline of IT Service Management as an ongoing continuum with periodic intersections from the discipline of Project Management. In ITIL v2 the intersection between ITSM and PM was mostly isolated to the “Release Management” process, when a new or revised configuration item (more…)

The Service Management Approach to Information Technology

When you plug the stereo into the wall, you expect to hear music. A lot goes into generating the electricity, getting it into your home, through the walls, and into that plug, but you don’t have to care about that. The electricity is there when you need it, you get exactly the amount you need, and you can reasonably account for the cost of using it.

It is precisely because these things are true (more…)

Ten rules for successful ITIL implementation

ITIL is one of the hottest new buzzwords being thrown around in IT departments and boardrooms today. However, ITIL is just a set of books describing good practices. In order for an organization to ultimately realize the benefits of an ITIL implementation, there are a few concrete rules: (more…)

$100 off ITIL v3 Foundations Training in San Diego

Creative Enterprise Solutions in San Diego is offering a discount to ITSM Now! readers on their ITIL Foundations v3 Training Course in June. The company will be offering a full ITIL Course Catalog with ITIL Service Lifecycle courses starting in July.

Use coupon code “ITSMNOW” to receive a $100 discount on the June 24 Foundations V3 course.

ITIL White Paper

I recently wrote a white paper entitled “Using ITIL to Drive Business Innovation”.

The general theme is that when ITIL methodologies are applied as a tool rather than just implemented as process, the results can enable businesses to improve their agility.  Thoughts on this?