tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-215513602024-03-07T06:15:29.810+00:00Adventures of the ITIL ImpI work in UK local government ICT and qualified to foundation level in ITIL v2 (Oct 2005), Prince 2 (Jul 2008) and finally got my driving licence (Nov 2008). Next goal: tbc
I seek to improve the way we work and identify how IT Service Management (ITSM) frameworks such as ITIL and COBIT may benefit us.
This blog covers my thoughts on process improvement, project management, ITSM, t-gov, personal development, and the odd comment on the challenges of working in local government!The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-34420956078262513952009-06-27T02:08:00.000+01:002009-06-27T02:08:11.402+01:00Music and Me - thank you MichaelUnless you've been isolated from technology and people the past 48 hours you will know that the world has lost one of it's greatest entertainers. It seems as though the world has gone crazy... social network sites, twitter, news websites all struggling under the weight of people wanting to share their feelings on this tragic event. The news channels are barely covering any other story...<br />
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For me the death of Michael Jackson is a reminder of my youth. I was one of those big fans with the albums, the scrapbooks, (and yes I admit it - a mini-shrine on the top shelf of my wardrobe). I watched the videos over and over to learn the dance routines and I'd espouse how wonderful Michael was to all that would listen.<br />
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When the news came through that he'd been rushed to hospital - I sat glued to the news channels monitoring for the latest. I prayed that he was pulling the greatest publicity stunt of all time, yet somehow knew that wasn't the case. It seems quite irrational that I can shed tears for a man I never knew... yet I did then and I do now. <b>That </b>is the power of music - may the world long remember him for it.<br />
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<object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rR5Awf3d-Xg&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rR5Awf3d-Xg&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br />
<blockquote><i>We've been together for such a long time now<br />
Music, music and me<br />
Don't care whether all our songs rhyme<br />
Now music, music and me<br />
<br />
Only know wherever I go<br />
We're as close as two friends can be<br />
There have been others<br />
But never two lovers<br />
Like music, music and me<br />
<br />
Grab a song and come along<br />
You can sing your melody<br />
In your mind you will find<br />
A world of sweet harmony<br />
<br />
Birds of a feather will fly together<br />
Now music, music and me<br />
Music and me </i> </blockquote> RIP Michael - you live on for us, your fans.<br />
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-27338192911983361352009-06-06T21:34:00.000+01:002009-06-06T21:34:00.161+01:00Mindmapping on the move with Mindberry on the Storm!I don't usually take the time to write reviews of what I am using but today I am making an exception. I hate using memopad for recording my thoughts and actually prefer to put them in paper then transfer to Mindmanager or Thinking Rock as appropriate when I have access to a PC. So when I heard on twitter (thanks @MichaelDeutch) about <a href="http://mindberry.net/">Mindberry for the Blackberry</a> I got really excited and then was immediately disappointed when I saw it wasn't available for my model - the Blackberry Storm.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://mindberry.net/images/storm/mindberry-storm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="122" src="http://mindberry.net/images/storm/mindberry-storm.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Full credit to Luong Dat who has now completed and released a touch screen version for the Blackberry Storm that is pretty well thought out. I downloaded it whilst on the train last night to put it through its paces then and today <span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://mindberry.net/">(Image from Mindberry.net)</a>.</span></div><br />
Michael Deutch posted on the Mind Manager blog about <a href="http://blog.mindjet.com/2009/05/the-10-basic-parts-to-a-mind-map">10 basic parts to a mindmap</a>. Mindberry stacks up well against his list providing for 6/10 core features (<i>Features</i>: Topic: Central / Main / Sub, Markers, Notes, Markers, Hyperlinks and Attachments <i>Does not feature</i>: Topic: Callout / Floating, Relationship arrows, Boundaries).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://mindberry.net/images/storm/function.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Mindmap for BlackBerry: ToolBar function" border="0" height="147" src="http://mindberry.net/images/storm/function.png" width="420" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>The Good</b></u></span><br />
<br />
All the core features are well implemented and easy to use. The touch interface is simple once you know what the commands are. As the Blackberry has a clickable screen I will use 'tap' for light touch and 'click' when you actually need to press down on the screen.<br />
<br />
<div class="main_indent" style="padding-right: 28px;"><ul><li><b class="white">Pan:</b> Tap and hold then move your finger to the desired position.</li>
<li><b>Select a topic: </b>Tap it. </li>
<li><b class="white">Add a sub-topic:</b> Double-tap (not press) the parent topic. Enter the text desired and press enter or click on the OK button.<br />
</li>
<li><b>Expand / </b><b>Contract topic: </b>Click it. </li>
<li><b class="white">Move a topic:</b>Touch the topic, wait a moment until you see a '+' sign in the top-right corner of the screen then drag and drop. </li>
</ul>Adding Hyperlinks and Attachments is easy as you just click the function on the toolbar and pick from the menu that appears. Viewing these afterwards requires you to select the topic, click on the hyperlink icon and click on 'Go'. It is the same procedure to access the 'remove link' button.<br />
<br />
I like the implementation of fonts as you can select a topic, click the font button, then tap on one of the fonts to preview how it looks first before confirming by clicking (or double-tap). Quick butons are available on the toolbar for bold and italic. There are also two sub-buttons that appear when you click the Font Button that can be used to to increase or decrease font size.<br />
<br />
Other tips:<br />
<ul><li><b>Double-tap or Cl</b>ick to select items in one of the popup palettes (color, marker, font and line style). </li>
<li><b>Tap the toobar three times </b>to maximise the size of the buttons or return to the compacy 12 button view. Even with my fingers I found it easiest to work with the buttons maximised.<br />
</li>
<li><b>Tap the screen four times</b> to re-centre the map on the central topic. I found I needed to use this a fair bit on my monster maps!</li>
<li>If you find yourself unable to select a topic, close the palette that you have open and try again (this applies to notes windows too).<br />
</li>
</ul></div>It's worth noting that additonal context-sensitive functions are also available view the blackberry's menu key.<br />
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<b>Styling</b>: If you want to prettify the map there are text and line colour options. You can even cascade changes down the entire branch by using the menu key and clicking on 'apply style to branch'.<br />
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<b>Options</b>: I didn't have a major play but there are options to turn the background grid on or off, change scrolling and drag speed, set the default font and height, turn auto-arrange when folding on or off.<br />
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<b>Export options</b> include freemind and Mindmanager (haven't had a major play with this yet) and you can e-mail directly from the application in any of these formats.<br />
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<b>Reliability</b>: I imported a mega-map of almost 10mb into mindberry and it didn't crash at all. Admittedly all the images didn't come across (nor did all the text) but the application continued functioning. Reliability is fundamental for any key application in my book. <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>The Bad</b></u></span><br />
The location of the delete icon on the toolbar makes it far to easy to accidentally delete a topic and the whole sub-tree, even if the size of the toolbar is maximised. There is no prompt to confirm deletion and there is no 'undo' feature I could see other than closing the map and discarding all changes.<br />
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It is also possible to close a map that you have made changes to and accidentally lose your changes because there is no prompt to say you have unsaved changes, do you wish to save?<br />
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<u><b>Notes</b></u><br />
Although the basics are well implemented:<u><b><br />
</b></u><br />
<ul><li><b>To add</b> you select the topic and click on the icon, enter the text and press OK.</li>
<li><b>To view</b> a note, select the topic and click on the icon and a pop-up will show you the note text.</li>
<li><b>To delete</b> a note you have to select the topic with the note you wish to delete and use the Blackberry menu key, scroll and click 'Remove note'.</li>
</ul><br />
However,my big bugbear is the lack of a scroll bar on notes in view and edit modes which restricts you from entering much text in them. This is particualrly annoying as they have implemented a scroll feature in the help section. In landscape view, only the first couple of lines were displayed (albeit with html tags), images embedded in notes weren't dispalyed at all and trying to edit an existing note resulted in me being able to view 4 lines of text but being unable to scroll through the text in order to get to the OK / Cancel buttons. I had to hide the keyboard in order to view another 4 lines (8 in total) and the OK / Cancel buttons. In portrait view you get 3 more lines of text and the same problem. As someone who uses keywords in my mindmap (avoiding sentences where possible) and making substantial use of notes to provide supporting information this is a major issue.<br />
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That said - in terms of creating a map I'm unlikely to type a huge amount into notes and will most likely export it to mindmanager, open the map on myPC and do the real work there. <br />
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<u><b>Tasks</b></u><br />
If you decide that one of the topics is an action to carry out, you can select 'send to tasks' from the menu key and add it to your tasks list. The task title includes the entire branch, e.g. Mindberry / functions / test task function. Very helpful. Unfortunately this isn't followed through. There is no marker that is automatically added to the map to indicate that you have created a task, and marking the task as complete on your task list doesn't update the mindmap. As it is the first release - I wouldn't really expect this anyway :)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>The Ugly </b></u></span><br />
I don't think there is anything ugly about this little app (I just wanted to use the heading for consistency ;) ). <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>In summary</b></u></span><br />
I was always skeptical about how useful a mindmap application could be on a small device. I previously used the mindmanager app for PocketPC and never really made best use of it. However, the power of this application combined with the touch-screen makes it (for me anyway) a really viable proposition. I aalready really like it despite the flaws (some of which I am confident will be worked out in the fullness of time).<br />
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At this stage I wouldn't dare update one of my Mindmanager maps on the Mindberry and over-write my master on the PC with it due to the amount of data loss (markers, notes, etc.). What I WILL do is create a supporting map using Mindberry as I think of things then import it to my main map back at the desk. As I am so dependent on my mindmanager mindmaps this is the best option for my piece of mind at the moment.<br />
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I will also use this for taking notes whilst reading a book. Previously I've tended to do that at the PC (which isn't the best place to read or sit comfortably) or take notes on paper and transfer them to a mindmap afterwards (waste of effort rekeying). Now I can sit comfortably to read, take notes with mindberry and then export to the PC for prettification later. Yay!<br />
<br />
So in conclusion - this little application is absolutely great in terms of providing mobile access to the information I store in existing Mindmanager map and also in terms of creating quick maps from scratch. If you're a serious mindmapper and own a Blackberry Storm then you would be crazy not to <a href="http://mindberry.net/storm/">download </a>it! <br />
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-34484502291509269762009-05-08T00:01:00.023+01:002009-05-08T00:01:00.081+01:00Influence and Muckety Maps<div style="text-align: right;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYGz5IpE0wPFtowD5EupqX8h0JkBSfYiiSc0cwTkN37Sq5zZ6r82HBksGj6CgcIVc1YjlUnRZXLu3Xdb9VrsqVS-QKuMXMWxKk4BrKI3pFfi7P5R626nzUpCGfBSHAHAlzzcuCw/s1600-h/muckety.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYGz5IpE0wPFtowD5EupqX8h0JkBSfYiiSc0cwTkN37Sq5zZ6r82HBksGj6CgcIVc1YjlUnRZXLu3Xdb9VrsqVS-QKuMXMWxKk4BrKI3pFfi7P5R626nzUpCGfBSHAHAlzzcuCw/s320/muckety.png" /></a>I first became familiar with influence maps when I read about them on the <a href="http://mindtools.com/community/pages/article/newPPM_83.php">Mind Tools website</a> and it wasn't until last year that I really put it into practice. It proved to be a very a useful technique to help me manage stakeholder relationships in my new project management role.<br />
<br />
Whlist browsing the web today I came across a website called '<a href="http://www.muckety.com/">Muckety.com - Exploring the paths of power and influence</a>' which actually maps out relationships between people and organisations doing some of the leg work for you. Admittedly it is more of a novel way of viewing networks than true stakeholder management (although for political people there are indications as to whether someone supports or opposes the person) but it is pretty interesting none the less. Today their front page poses the question <a href="http://news.muckety.com/2009/05/06/do-ties-between-apple-google-pose-antitrust-issues/15261">Do ties between Apple, Google pose antitrust issues?</a> with a muckety map showing what appears to me to be a possible conflict of interests with the directors... You can even create your own...fun stuff!<br />
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-89252624707458056112009-05-06T20:27:00.000+01:002009-05-06T20:27:11.056+01:00Creating accessible and accountable government in the USI came across a post on CIO Insight.com called '<a href="http://www.cioinsight.com/c/a/Government/Obamas-Triad-Takes-on-Government-IT-549822/">Obama's Triad takes on government IT</a>'. In it the author Robert Otto talks about the big challenges facing the Obama administration’s CIO, CTO and CPO and goes on to put forward elements of a potential vision going forward over the coming years. It's pretty idealistic but sensible stuff. What I can't help wondering is if they actually achieve something like this whether the UK would finally bite the bullet and work in a more joined up fashion too.<br />
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The holders of the posts are as follows:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>CIO - Chief Information Officer - Vivek Kundra<br />
</li>
<li>CTO - Chief Technology Officer - <a href="http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Aneesh_Chopra">Aneesh Chopra</a> (Also see <a href="http://blog.executivebiz.com/aneesh-chopra-named-federal-cto/1475">Aneesh Chopra named federal CTO)</a></li>
<li>CPO - Chief Performance Officer - <a href="http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Jeffrey_D._Zients">Jeffrey Zients</a><br />
</li>
</ul>Related links:<br />
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<ul><li><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Names-Vivek-Kundra-Chief-Information-Officer/">President Obama Names Vivek Kundra Chief Information Officer</a></li>
<li> <a href="http://blog.executivebiz.com/vivek-kundra-outlines-top-priorities-for-first-100-days/1801">Federal CIO Vivek Kundra outlines top priorities for first 100 days </a></li>
</ul><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-44185756708893786672009-04-10T00:01:00.003+01:002009-04-10T00:01:00.458+01:00Musings on Influence and Project SuccessFor ages I've personally felt that influencing people was one of my weakest ares in need of development, so I was quite surprised when two senior managers independently commented that from their perspective I succeed in influencing people so disagreed with my own assessment. Reflecting on this I wonder if perhaps what they are seeing as 'influencing' is really my motivating people to achieve things in the short-term (which admittedly is a rather important trait for a project manager) and not 'influencing' at all.<br />
<br />
I recently read an interesting article '<a href="https://www.vitalsmarts.com/userfiles/10xinfluence/index.html">How to 10X Your Influence</a>' by Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, and Andrew Shimberg which was published in the MIT Sloan Management Review. They are from the same stable of <a href="https://www.vitalsmarts.com/">Vital Smarts</a> that produced the excellent 'Crucial Conversations' and 'Crucial Confrontations'. It outlines the results of some amazing research which identified 6 sources of influence and concluded that if strategies are applied using at least 4 of these sources, we can influence vital behaviours and achieve sustainable change.<br />
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That's the key thing for me... <i>sustainable </i>change. As a project manager I can introduce change, get people's buy-in, implement process and technology changes, and even effect some behaviour change during the lifetime of the project. What concerns me is that by it's very nature, a project has an end and the project manager moves on to other things. So - what happens then? I made it very clear in the presentation I gave when interviewed for my current role that in my view a project manager delivering within time, within scope, within budget, to the required quality does not represent project success because the actual benefits of a project come afterwards. Project success, to me anyway, is actually determined by the people who are expected to make use of the solution (whether it be a new process or technology or something else). If those people don't make the changes in behaviour - then the change will be fleeting and all the time and effort spent on the project could be a complete waste of time and energy. Yes, I know we learn things from the experience successful or otherwise- but in terms of making effective use of scarce resources etc. the argument stands.<br />
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This brings me back to the article again. I really like the model that the authors have produced as it is easy to grasp and very powerful. I picked up a copy of their book whilst at a masterclass session run by <a href="http://www.gra.uk.com/">Graham Robb Associates</a> on Wednesday morning (*makes mental note to say more about this in another post*). Entitled '<a href="http://www.influencerbook.com/">Influencer: The Power to Change Anything</a>' and a NY Times Bestseller, it was named as business book of the year 2008 by Soundview. What's more interesting that the accolades is the stories - take a look at the <a href="http://www.influencerbook.com/videos">videos </a>on their website. I'm looking forward to reading it over the Easter holidays. If you want to have a peek yourself, the <a href="http://www.influencerbook.com/download/first_chapter">first chapter</a> is available online.<br />
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<br />
Related posts:<br />
<ul><li><a href="http://itilimp.blogspot.com/2007/03/crucial-conversations-buy-it-read-it-do.html">Crucial conversations - buy it, read it, do it!</a></li>
<li><a href="http://itilimp.blogspot.com/2007/03/silence-fails-and-crucial-conversations.html">Silence Fails and Crucial Conversations</a><br />
</li>
</ul><br />
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-57589108392118127982009-04-09T19:26:00.001+01:002009-04-09T19:26:50.968+01:00VIDEO: A Guy In a Cube<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><p><object height='350' width='425'><param value='http://youtube.com/v/dYdj6nw8eFU' name='movie'/><embed height='350' width='425' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' src='http://youtube.com/v/dYdj6nw8eFU'/></object></p><p>Ignore the fact that this video is an advert from VItalsmarts for their Crucial Conversations book and training - the truth of the message is delivered in such an amusing and effective way that I thought enough of it to share it with you (I won't say particularly of local government as it is probably equally if not more true of the private sector).</p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-72528375022595461272009-04-08T21:21:00.000+01:002009-04-08T21:21:26.803+01:00Prince2 : 2009 Release Date<span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's official - the new Prince2:2009 material will be available from </span><span style="font-size: small;">16 June 2009. At least, so says the <a href="http://www.prince2author.com/">lead author's blog</a> and an e-mail from TSO which arrived days after the date was leaked elsewhere. If you want to attend the launch in London you'll need an invite - I suspect that those that have participated in QA are likely to be on the guest list, but who knows.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">After my experience with the ITIL v3 books I'm trying to decide whether I should wait a few months for the errata and next reprint before rushing out and getting the first edition or whether my curiosity about the changes will win out. I suspect the latter...<br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-8603300924589348572009-02-25T23:37:00.000+00:002009-02-25T23:37:41.178+00:00Adventures on Twitter?I've been consciously resisting from having anything to do with the Twitter phenomen for a long time now. However, last week I found that the author of almost every single blog that I read had something to say about twitter. This, combined with a recent thread on the British Computer Society's Women's Forum tipped me over the edge. As if to reaffirm that I was right to step off - Michael Deutch of Mindjet went and posted a mindmap on all things Twitter. I hadn't made it by then that would have pushed me off the cliff certainly!<br />
<br />
So - I'm there. Making a rare tweet in a sea of tweets, hopefully of some interest to someone somewhere - though how that someone somewhere will find it amongst all that spam... I'll post about which tools I'm using another day - inevitably with yet another website signed up to, there are a plethora of tools to help wade through the sea that I've jumped into. If you also succumbed, you can<a href="https://twitter.com/itilimp" linkindex="78"> follow my adventures on Twitter</a>. Although their less like adventures and more like a few steps outside the front door.<br />
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I have to say though - thus far, I'm not convinced and may soon find myself scrambling back up the cliff face!<br />
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-7721267449165849462009-02-21T13:53:00.000+00:002009-02-21T13:53:53.723+00:00Prince2 : 2009 Project RefreshAlthough I've been following Andy Murray's<a href="http://www.best-management-practice.com/blogs/PRINCE2/" linkindex="222"> blog on the Prince 2 Refresh Project</a>, there hasn't really been much meat to it, in terms of understanding what this refresh really means for what we currently know as the Prince 2 project methodology. According to his presentation (see link below) this was to protect crown copyright - okay... if you say so. It seems now the time is right to reveal some of the content changes, and on the surface it sounds like a good thing.<br />
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In terms of structure there are now 7 Principles, 7 Themes (formerly components), and 7 Processes.<br />
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I like that they've gathered the principles that were scattered all over the book and reduced them down to 7 and that we can apply the test, 'Am I doing this? If not it isn't Prince2' to each. Of the 7 (Business Justification, Roles & Responsibilities, Product Focus, Managed by Stages, Management of Risk, Scaling and Tailoring, and Learning Lessons) I find the latter a little curious. Andy emphasised the need to learn from prior experience rather than simply identifying new lessons during a project and producing a report at the end. It's not that I disagree with it - I just find it strange that it is important enough to be considered a 'principle'.<br />
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I'm pleased to see that 'Planning' has been removed as a single process and there is recognition that this goes on continuously throughout a project as well as major bouts of it at stage boundaries. This is being addressed by including it as one of the 7 key themes (Business Case, Organisation, Plans, Risk, Progress, Quality, Issues & Changes) which all need to be continually present and reviewed throughout the project lifecycle.<br />
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We also wave goodbye to the 45 sub-processes (how I shall miss thee CS3...) and the 3 techniques (I never understood why these three were selected out of the many needed to run a successful project!). Instead of sub-processes we will get un-coded activities and recommended actions. In the case of techniques they rightly say they will refer to other Bodies of Knowledge, after all, why try to be all things to all people when other things exist?<br />
<br />
Interestingly the number of management products has been cut from 36 to 25 based on what the authoring team consider to be a 'typical project'. Andy didn't explain what this was so I am curious to find out. What he did say was that we can scale up or down according to need. Certainly when working with DSDM this will be scaling up!<br />
<br />
It sounds like it's going in the right direction, it will be interesting to see how the pilots go and if they result in many alterations. From my point of view I am particularly looking forward to the guidance for those directing a project as this is a real weak area. All too often I see Project Board members who see their role as putting a name on a document for sign-off rather than having an active role and responsibilities. Although as a project manager we can offer them guidance on what that should be - to have the fallback of Prince2:2009 Directing a Project guidance would be helpful.<br />
<br />
Are you interested in the refresh? What's your take on it?<br />
<br />
Source:<br />
<ul><li>Andy Murray's presentation of the <a href="http://www.tso.co.uk/bookshop/gempdf/Andy_Murray.wmv" linkindex="223">project progress update</a> at the International Congress for Project, Programme and Risk Management.</li>
<li> Copy of the slides for the <a href="http://www.best-management-practice.com/gempdf/Andy_Murray_PRINCE2_2009_Presentation_Feb08.ppt" linkindex="224">presentation </a>delivered above</li>
<li>BCS article: <a href="http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.24577" linkindex="224">Prince 2 exams set to be refreshed Q2: 2009</a><br />
</li>
</ul><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript">
</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-17918961532455132832009-01-27T23:33:00.018+00:002009-01-27T23:41:39.132+00:00Lessons learned from President Obama's Inauguration SpeechI don't know about the rest of you but I found last week to be an inspiring week with much cause for reflection. Witnessing the <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/inaugural-address/" linkindex="18" set="yes">first african-american inaugurated as President of the United States</a> is certainly one for the history books and therefore deserves a mention in this blog (I went home early to watch it live on TV). There is a lot one can take from his speech an I wanted to draw your attention to a couple of things that are relevant to this project.<br />
<ol><li>President Obama's message was very clear that each and every citizen has a responsibility to make a difference in order to bring about real change - <em>"the price and the promise of citizenship". </em><br />
<br />
This is true of projects too. Project organisations are temporary things setup purely to deliver a project. Once that is done - it's up to the guys on the ground as well as operational management to make it a success and achieve the potential benefits. Their continued efforts beyond the project is <i>'the price'</i>; the potential benefits are <i>'the promise'</i>. <br />
<em><br />
</em></li>
<li><em>"Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met."</em><br />
Some news channels reported the inauguration speech as being particularly grim in comparison to the campaign speeches. Well of course it was! Getting voted in is one thing and now he IS in he has to deliver. Elements throughout his speech clearly intended to set people's expectations to realistic levels whilst still retaining a message of hope for the future. <br />
<br />
Throughout the projects I've worked on I have always been very enthusiastic about what will be delivered. I have learned the hard way of the real danger of my enthusiasm creating unrealistic expectations. Therefore I have made a conscious effort on the project I am currently managing to constantly state that we will be unable to deliver all that we would like to by target date. However what we will deliver will be the required elements and anything else is icing on the cake. There is nothing wrong with a dose of realism (as I have to remind myself sometimes ;) ). </li>
</ol>Are there any other lessons we can learn from his speech?<br />
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-90108423425051400822008-11-26T21:21:00.000+00:002008-11-26T22:02:02.509+00:00Independence is finally mine... the imp can drive!<div style="text-align: right;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjopIx0DM__XVZGeEGkzuv3XW6rfrdud36P18lPqp63HN4B2AGeFbM5DoF0vQaLRGP7DIptpdMXN5Qwd4jsWE-EMpQ65vHbQh60jYNPN5KIdPS7Sb82Wda0-H8gpuLku7XrMrbCTg/s1600-h/600px-Lplate.svg%5B1%5D.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjopIx0DM__XVZGeEGkzuv3XW6rfrdud36P18lPqp63HN4B2AGeFbM5DoF0vQaLRGP7DIptpdMXN5Qwd4jsWE-EMpQ65vHbQh60jYNPN5KIdPS7Sb82Wda0-H8gpuLku7XrMrbCTg/s200/600px-Lplate.svg%5B1%5D.png" width="131" /></a>I've always considered myself to be a pretty independent person in most areas of my life. However, there is one area in which I have been totally dependent upon others the past few decades of my life - getting from A to B by means of a car. Yes - all my solo adventures have been made with the use of my own two feet and public transport. Due to events the past few years I started thinking that perhaps I really should get my driving license. After all, as the nature of the job I want is likely to involve travel - how likely am I to be successful in an application without a driving license? A couple of years ago I cheekily asked if driving lessons counted as a 'training course' for my personal development plan - naturally the answer was 'no'. My attitude is I was no worse off for asking and they could have surprised me (so I'm an optimist).<br />
<br />
This year I finally decided to take the plunge and started saving. It's an expensive business in the UK as there's a fair bit involved cost wise:<br />
<ul><li> Cost of a <a href="http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Motoringtransactions/BeforeyouapplyA/DG_10032690">provisional driving licence</a> (if you don't have one already): £50<br />
</li>
<li>Insurance for a learner driver on the practice car <br />
</li>
<li><a href="https://pt.dsa.gov.uk/tests/tests_E/tt/data_processing.asp#">Theory test</a>: £30</li>
<li><a href="https://pt.dsa.gov.uk/">Practical test</a>: £56.50</li>
<li>Driving lessons: £20 to £26 per hour in my area<br />
</li>
<li>Supplementary materials (e.g. DVD, Highway code): £25 for learner pack from DSA inc. L plates</li>
<li>Free information: Lots of good stuff on the motoring pages of the <a href="http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/LearnerAndNewDrivers/index.htm">Direct Gov</a> website. <br />
</li>
</ul>Although I'd considered going the intensive route I decided I'd be better off taking it steady and accumulating driving experience between lessons - an approach I highly recommend. In the end it took me 16 x 2 hour lessons (32 hours of driving tuition) and when <b>all </b>the costs are added up it still comes in under £1000. A few hundred pounds over my optimistic budget... it was worth every penny to hear those magic words:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"> <i>'I'm pleased to say you've passed.' </i></div><br />
For anyone else out there in their mid-thirties and thinks it's too late to learn - think again. If I can do it - so can you!<br />
<br />
<b>Major thanks go to:</b><br />
<i>My partner: All your support, patience with manoeuvres and learning to trust my ability to stop the car.</i><br />
<i>My driving instructor - <a href="http://www.davelewseydriving.co.uk/">Dave Lewsey</a>: Your patience with a perfectionist learner, willingness to translate concepts into something that worked for me (mantra: RLR, Rbs, Lbs, Bwdw) and your sense of humour - I loved lessons with you and no longer having them is the only downside of passing my test.</i><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-2955564882540850632008-11-20T22:18:00.002+00:002008-11-20T22:34:33.262+00:00Need to keep IT on track? Put a woman in charge ;)Only kidding - put whoever the most competent person is for the job in charge. Personally I can't stand this business of meeting quotas and positive discrimination so I don't want any of you getting the wrong idea about some of my recent posts. My headline is actually in reference to that used by <a href="http://www.computing.co.uk/2230730">Computing this week</a> in reference to Catherine Doran who won their 'IT Leader of the Year' award. Congratulations Catherine!<br />
<blockquote> KEEPING IT ON TRACK <br />
<i>Catherine Doran, winner of Computing's IT Leader of the Year award, tells Angelica Mari of her determination to drive on with technology-led transformation at Network Rail despite uncertainty over funding.</i><br />
<br />
These are challenging days for Catherine Doran. She is in charge of Network Rail's IT assets and is facing growing pressure to keep down costs, but she remains unperturbed. The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) confirmed earlier this year that Network Rail will be given an overall budget next year of £28.5bn, £2.6bn less than it asked for. The company still has to respond to the ruling, while the ORR contends that the shortfall will actually amount to £1.2bn once some projects are dropped or delayed. The announcement from the regulator followed months of wrangling with the rail infrastructure firm, which is understood to have said it could generate savings of about 13 per cent, considered "optimistic" by the ORR.... <br />
<br />
Read the full story at <a href="http://www.computing.co.uk/2230730">http://www.computing.co.uk/2230730</a>.</blockquote><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript">
</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-53464511371188533792008-11-16T21:14:00.000+00:002008-11-16T21:44:42.942+00:00The path to CIO - as a black woman - to be or not to be?The recent achievements of Lewis Hamilton and Barack Obama got me thinking about role models again. Those of you who have been with me for awhile will know that I'm very interested in the challenges that women face working in IT and there is a lot of emphasis on role models.<br />
<br />
It's a current ambition of mine to become a CIO and there just aren't that many females, let alone black females (the 'double whammy' as someone recently said to me). So imagine my excitement awhile back on hearing the success of <a href="http://www.govtech.com/pcio/219288?id=&story_pg=1">Gail Roper</a> - a black female CIO working in US government. Do you know of any others?<br />
<br />
Anyway, back to my path. My original plan to get there was to go through the ITSM route (which I really enjoy) yet recent events mean that I've had to put that plan aside and remap my path as I walk the project management route (which I also enjoy). After some deliberation about the move I've decided that, actually, it is completely the right thing to have done. Why? Whether you read ITIL, CIO, or pretty much any other technology (with career focus) website out there; there are constant references to 'the business'. Alignment. Integration. That's where we are at. So what better move for me than to step out of IT and into the business in order to get a better understanding of 'the other side' with which we are to integrate?<br />
<br />
More on this subject another time. For those that would say race and gender don't matter in such things - as much as I wish they didn't - the fact is they do. I hope that as I move through both my professional and personal life that people will look past gender, past race - and see me. A little ITIL imp :)<br />
<br />
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-79582007339803189642008-11-08T22:10:00.003+00:002008-11-09T02:25:27.204+00:00Amazing times...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4MeKeBCRE1CGSB6_1ltjnep7OOkoOvhw7_b_s29K3G5pXbVn0xGg8tqTdz7BX7vDEudZwne9uv7M9sigjySl0Ue9QIsDa3x6zw_NVmFyotqlIWA7iWG_9p999gAnHAmTGRG_dw/s1600-h/lewishamilton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU4MeKeBCRE1CGSB6_1ltjnep7OOkoOvhw7_b_s29K3G5pXbVn0xGg8tqTdz7BX7vDEudZwne9uv7M9sigjySl0Ue9QIsDa3x6zw_NVmFyotqlIWA7iWG_9p999gAnHAmTGRG_dw/s400/lewishamilton.jpg" /></a><i>In a departure from my normal topics - I can't let this one pass without joining in the commentary with my personal take.</i><br />
<br />
It's been a great week for black people in terms of positive role models whilst at the same time being quite horrible given what is happening elsewhere in the world.<br />
<br />
We've seen the first black formula one world champion in the form of Lewis Hamilton (image source: <a href="http://www.inthenews.co.uk/sports/sport/features/sport-on-tv/lewis-hamilton-formula-one-world-champion-$1247654.htm">inthenews</a>). A kid who had a dream and managed to make it reality. As much as I admire him and know that he inspires others - I also want to pay tribute to his family and father in particular. Those that achieve great things rarely do so alone, it's the people who believe in them that help to make it so. None more so than the next man who has made history - Barack Obama.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure I ever truly believed that I would witness such a day in my lifetime and I'm certain that <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/11/05/2008-11-05_racism_survivor_ann_nixon_cooper_106_is_.html">Ann Nixon Cooper</a> (106 year old American activist for African-American people's rights) never believed it either.<br />
<br />
I was among those that stayed up all night to witness the historic occasion (ok, so I confess my body failed me and I crawled into bed about 15 minutes after it was confirmed that he took Ohio and it was clear he had won). How far America has come...and the oh the irony of a black family in the 'White house' - I love it.<br />
<br />
Will he really change the world? Yes, he will - he already has by inspiring millions of people. It's THOSE people that will effect real change. I just hope that he surrounds himself with people who want a better world, that won't undermine him, and that the tough decisions he makes go towards achieving that.<br />
<br />
If Martin Luther King could see this now...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom/3008253269/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="photo sharing"><img alt="" height="401" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3272/3008253269_630b2883fa.jpg" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" width="420" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom/3008253269/">20081104_Chicago_IL_ElectionNight1520</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/barackobamadotcom/">Barack Obama</a>.</span> <br />
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-15712793487315408242008-10-20T18:51:00.004+01:002008-10-20T18:55:55.743+01:00The future of ITIL V2 rests in your hands...Thanks to <a href="http://www.itskeptic.org/exin-runs-poll-future-itil-v2">The IT Skeptic</a> for drawing my attention to this. I've had my say - make sure you have yours!<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Here is an opportunity to have your say on the future of ITIL V2. EXIN is running <a href="http://exin.yoursurvey.nl/16" target="_blank">an anonymous poll of public opinion</a> regarding the future of ITIL V2. Despite the Dutch error messages and the limited opportunities for additional comment, this is a worthwhile initiative. The ITIL Money Engine wants to kill ITIL V2 as soon as possible - add your voice if this is not what you want.<br />
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The training vendors know it is more efficient to only service one version, just as software vendors try to get you off old product versions. But bodies of knowledge are not software products. The IT Skeptic believes V2 should be supported until V3 offers credible alternatives to all of V2's benefits. In particular, <br />
<ol><li>a phased approach to v3 is essential to provide that first step. ITIL V2 remains as valid and useful as it ever was, and a lot more accessible to new adopters than ITIL V3. </li>
<li>Experienced knowledgeable expertise in V3 is still rare.</li>
</ol>The market - that's us - should resist pressure to force us onto V3 before we are ready.</blockquote><br />
<blockquote></blockquote><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript">
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-53892727298888570592008-10-15T11:49:00.000+01:002008-10-15T12:01:33.679+01:00Happy one month anniversary to me!Well, today marks the first month of my new job and how the weeks have flown by without my making many blog posts. I am so busy both at work and home that I just don't know where the time goes (well I do, but I'm not going to bore you with it).<br />
<br />
After the first two weeks were primarily spent identifiying and meeting stakeholders, the next two weeks were focused around collecting the information for the development of the Project Initiation Document that had to be in on Wednesday 8th October. I was able to use much of the input from the one-to-one stakeholder meetings I had but we also held a project kick-off workshop and used this to get ideas from everyone together to address things like objectives, constraints, risks, benefits, deliverables, and assumptions. This proved very worthwhile as it helped create that shared understanding about the project and was a great input into the PID.<br />
<br />
I actually had to write two of them, one for the local council project and one for the wider programme across all councils. The more I worked on the latter one the more I realised it was really a programme definition document according to OGC's 'Managing Successful Programmes'. I recently bought the book although I've not finished reading it yet so I was making a lot of reference to it as I wrote this document. Nothing like learning through doing is there? ;)<br />
<br />
Now that the first milestone is out of the way and I've developed the project plan that we will be working to, it's time to start making things happen. I guess this is when the REAL challenge begins...<br />
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-41924126001228864412008-09-27T01:32:00.002+01:002008-09-27T01:48:21.655+01:00ITIL V3 Intermediate Level Syllabi Published and mini rant At least a year in the making, the syllabi for those intermediate exams are finally published. Not that I'd necessarily recommend that anyone actually take them. It's not that the Skeptic has gotten to me - it's the actions of those running the ITIL show that have. I recently blogged about the ITIL Live Portal (<a class="gs-title" href="http://itilimp.blogspot.com/2008/06/itil-live-portal-cheeky-blighters.html" target="_blank">ITIL <b>Live Portal</b> - Cheeky blighters!</a>, <a class="gs-title" href="http://itilimp.blogspot.com/2008/06/itil-live-portal-cheeky-blighters-part.html" target="_blank">ITIL <b>Live Portal</b> - Cheeky blighters, part 2</a>, <a class="gs-title" href="http://itilimp.blogspot.com/2008/06/itil-live-portal-what-did-they-promise.html" target="_blank">ITIL <b>Live Portal</b> - what DID they promise anyway?</a>) and it has recently come out that the price for an individual person per year is £2500 (corporate concurrent user £5750)! Who are they trying to kid? As my partner so eloquently said, "How much? I could get a football season ticket for that!"<br />
<br />
Remember, you don't need qualifications to <b>do</b> service management! Anyway, for those of you who would like to go through the v3 churning machine - here you go:<br />
<blockquote><div style="font-family: inherit;">The ITIL Qualification Scheme uses a system that enables an individual to gain credits for each exam they take. For a full definitive explanation of the Version 3 qualification scheme and credit system, please download the <a href="http://www.best-management-practice.com/gempdf/ITILV3_Qual_Scheme_v3_0.pdf" target="_blank">ITIL V3 Qualification Scheme</a>.</div><div style="font-family: inherit;">Once candidates have accumulated a sufficient number of credits they can be awarded the ITIL Expert in IT Service Management.</div><div style="font-family: inherit;">There are four levels within the scheme:</div><ul style="font-family: inherit;"><li> Foundation Level</li>
<li> Intermediate Level (Lifecycle Stream and Capability Stream)</li>
<li> ITIL Expert</li>
<li>ITIL Master.</li>
</ul><div style="font-family: inherit;">Syllabi for the Intermediate Level have been published and can be seen below:</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Capability Stream</b> </div><ul><li><a href="http://www.best-management-practice.com/gempdf/ITIL_Int_Qual_Operational_Support_and_Analysis_v3.2.pdf" target="_blank">Operational Support and Analysis Certificate Syllabus</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.best-management-practice.com/gempdf/ITIL_Int_Qual_Planning_Protection_and_Optimization_v3.0.pdf" target="_blank"> Planning, Protection and Optimization Certificate Syllabus</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.best-management-practice.com/gempdf/ITIL_Int_Qual_Release_Control_Validation_v3.2.pdf" target="_blank">Release, Control and Validation Certificate Syllabus</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.best-management-practice.com/gempdf/ITIL_Int_Qual_Service_Offerings_and_Agreements_v3.1.pdf" target="_blank">Service Offerings and Agreements Certificate Syllabus</a>.</li>
</ul><div style="font-family: inherit;"></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Lifecycle Stream</b> </div><ul><li><a href="http://www.best-management-practice.com/gempdf/ITIL_Int_Qual_Service_Strategy_v3.0.pdf" target="_blank">Service Strategy Certificate Syllabus</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.best-management-practice.com/gempdf/ITIL_Int_Qual_Service_Design_v3.1.pdf" target="_blank"> Service Design Certificate Syllabus</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.best-management-practice.com/gempdf/ITIL_Int_Qual_Service_Transition_v3.1.pdf" target="_blank"> Service Transition Certificate Syllabus</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.best-management-practice.com/gempdf/ITIL_Int_Qual_Service_Operation_v3.1.pdf" target="_blank"> Service Operation Certificate Syllabus</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.best-management-practice.com/gempdf/ITIL_Int_Qual_Continual_Service_Imp_v3.0.pdf" target="_blank">Continual Service Improvement Certificate Syllabus</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.best-management-practice.com/gempdf/ITIL_Int_Certificate_Syllabus_Managing_Across_Lifecycle_v3.0.pdf" target="_blank"> Managing Across the Lifecycle</a>.</li>
</ul></blockquote><i> </i><i>Source: <a href="http://www.best-management-practice.com/Knowledge-Centre/News/ITIL-News/?trackid=002094&DI=605691">Best Management Practice </a></i><br />
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-69227102775162481032008-09-21T17:51:00.001+01:002008-09-21T18:36:08.814+01:00Starting from scratch...Well, this week marked the start of a new role for me. I'd always assumed that my next role would be that of a Service Delivery Manager - yet I have moved out of the operational IT environment and taken a leap into the business change environment. I'm now a project manager on the business side (albeit with an IT background). These days there is a lot of talk about how IT folk, CIOs especially, need to understand the business units that they support; what better way to do that than to take the plunge into said area? Inevitably there will be ups and downs to go with the new challenges. It all makes for the perfect personal development opportunity - and one that will get my career where I want it to go.<br />
<br />
So... week one. My objectives were to get a better understanding of the project(s) that I would be working on, meeting key people (potential project team members and primary stakeholders), and an understanding of the new environment I'd be working in.<br />
<br />
<b>Monday</b> - I go through the usual induction stuff and find that everything isn't quite as expected with my new room or IT setup. On the upside these small issues provided me with opportunities to get well acquainted with facilities and IT sooner than I had planned to. Everyone proved really helpful and focused on getting what I need to do the job. A positive day on the whole. The only negative thing was that, although intellectually I knew that it would be hard moving from IT to the business side, I hadn't reckoned on it being so damned frustrating to find myself a 'user' and all that means, i.e. subject to user IT policies and unable to do all I am used to doing!<br />
<br />
<b>Tuesday</b> - Main achievement of the day, meeting and picking the brains of the Contact Centre Manager who will be a key stakeholder in the integration project. Obtained a wealth of information in a short time which all contributed to my weekly goals. Once I got home I was missing the people I used to work with and elements of my old job. Had to remind myself why I made the move and gear myself up for the next working day.<br />
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<b>Wednesday</b> - Very busy yet rewarding day. Introduced myself to the IT managers and met with every member of ICT who was present. Coming from IT myself, I know that without their support this project will be going nowhere fast. I also met a potential team member who specialises in process mapping. A skillset that I have some, yet limited, experience with so it's great to have someone around who is very passionate about the subject.<br />
<br />
<b>Thursday </b>- At short notice I managed to meet the project customer (senior user) for a one-to-one prior to our formal meeting next week. Very informative and useful - yet another person with great energy and enthusiasm. Either there are a lot of those in this organisation or I've just been very lucky in meeting the few that are thus far - time will tell.<br />
<br />
<b>Friday </b>- The first project board meeting with me present. My one deliverable to show for the week thus far is a draft project organisation chart identifying programme board, project board, project team members, stakeholders and other interested parties. The fact that I had met a lot of them helped. I spent the afternoon in the contact centre getting to grips with the various systems in use and how they are used in conjunction with one another. All very positive thus far - I go home tired and happy.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><b>Conclusion after week one:</b></i> Initial objectives achieved. Coming from an outside organisation I have no credibility here; I am starting from scratch. Spending time meeting people, making an excellent first impression, and gathering information about people and the organisation are all key if I am to be successful in this role. Being me, I intend to be ;)<div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-19689513101655174232008-09-13T16:34:00.000+01:002008-09-13T16:35:08.901+01:00Government IT Profession Annual Conference<a href="http://www.cio.gov.uk/images/itprofession/annual_conf_image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.cio.gov.uk/images/itprofession/annual_conf_image.jpg" /></a>For those of you who are also public-sector IT professionals, you may be interested in attending the Government IT Profession Annual Conference which is being held from 30th to 31st October 2008. Here is an excerpt from their e-mail invitation (available to those that subscribe via the <a href="http://www.cio.gov.uk/itprofession/">cio.gov.uk</a> website): <br />
<blockquote>The conference will take place in Leeds, West Yorkshire, at the QueensHotel, which is next to Leeds railway station. The event will start with registration at 10:00 on Thursday 30 October, and finish at 14:30 on Friday 31 October. The conference will reinforce professionalism in the <br />
way the government delivers technology and modern services. Workshop subjects will include citizen-centred services, IT skills analysis, an update on SFIA version 4, plus sessions aimed at CIOs and Heads of IT, Competency Groups and Implementation Leaders building the public-sector-wide IT profession community. </blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><br />
For further information visit: <a href="http://www.cio.gov.uk/itprofession/annual_conference">http://www.cio.gov.uk/itprofession/annual_conference</a><br />
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-1075390394677751512008-09-08T18:21:00.000+01:002008-09-08T18:25:09.841+01:00ITIL v3 Foundation Syllabus ReviewThere's been a lot of concern about the ITIL v3 Foundation syllabus, particularly around those initial exams where the emphasis on strategy was rather more than the delegates attending were expecting or found appropriate for their roles. As I said previously, I think a lot of upset could have been avoided if it was just stated up front that the audience for v3 foundation is not the same as for v2 foundation. Anyhow, after the initial changes to quiet the masses - there is now a formal review in progress. See below and take part if you fulfill the criteria: <br />
<blockquote>Following the launch of the ITIL V3 Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management in June 2007 and the Foundation Bridge Certificate launch in August 2007, it was always intended to review both syllabuses as part of APM Group's continual service improvement process.<br />
<br />
Some of the initial concerns raised by students, Accredited Training Organisations (ATOs) and Examination Institutes (EIs) were addressed through an interim syllabus version, which was released on February 1st 2008; however, the full syllabus review process for the courses and certificates is now underway.<br />
<br />
This formal review involves extensive consultation with a wide rage of stakeholders, including, but not limited to, Users, ATOs, Students and chapters of the itSMFI and ITIL training communities, to ensure that the syllabus meets the requirements of students, and also operational objectives in terms of scope and depth of topics covered. Stakeholders views will be gathered via a number of methods, including direct consultation, questionnaire and interview. <br />
View the <a href="http://www.itil-officialsite.com/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=527&sID=157">ITIL V3 Foundation (and Bridge) Syllabus Review Process</a> (pdf)<br />
<strong></strong>The information gathered from the market place will be reviewed and analysed by a Syllabus Advisory Board, which is made up of representatives from the itSMFI, the Licensed EIs, the V3 Examination Panel and a selection of ATOs, all of which are nominated and/or elected to the Board. This panel will then be responsible for considering all feedback and making informed recommendations for improvements and changes to the syllabuses.<br />
<br />
Find out more about the <a href="http://www.itil-officialsite.com/Qualifications/ElectionResults.asp">ATO Representative Election Results</a>.<br />
<strong>Foundation Syllabus Questionnaire</strong><br />
<strong><ins cite="mailto:Viktoriyab" datetime="2008-08-29T16:45"></ins></strong>In order to collect the feedback and comments from all stakeholders a number of questionnaires have been developed. If you are from either of these stakeholder groups<br />
<ul><li>ITIL V3 students </li>
<li>Accredited ITIL trainers </li>
<li>ITIL examiners.</li>
</ul>Please complete this <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=9HcbZFyifoDN4UpcfxXkdg_3d_3d" target="_self">questionnaire</a> to provide us with your feedback on syllabus and exams.</blockquote><script src="http://shots.snap.com//client/inject.js?site_name=0" type="text/javascript">
</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-73104842516801556102008-08-29T16:07:00.003+01:002008-08-29T17:02:51.225+01:00Change Management Training Workshop - Phase 1Hoorah! On Wednesday afternoon I delivered a change management (based on ITIL) training workshop to the IT managers of multiple councils as they are working in partnership to deliver shared IT services. I spent quite a lot of time preparing the materials for it as, knowing my audience, I wanted to be sure I had things they could take away and refer to when I'm not around and to consider which questions were likely to arise that I would need to answer. The training packs were made up of some change management basics, process framework document, process diagrams, copy of presentation slides and a little 7Rs of Change Management laminated card.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio8nBRamalLMY4EYCuND9WCYHNLYrk5Ny8QEsXlrUCo_O7A7bIj-iswXLyKPeMZWhEgrLhNkOXtUuXxbiDsuR8PniwNF9qkeZTFXbKS6Vf4uG8Ff4zKWE7SWDcxNND79ve52-ctw/s1600-h/7Rs+of+change+management.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineDnn9Wmb42XxEqijbCgK7e6qe0NRIscYZTVd6z0pI5yvOEEDlnwhcUiCTsLgu5YJpuhWESNummMG-4A3r3HKkC5Wb_wr5ftjQ5kOgDhi1h9udv3LnMe4jyYGq3VPwrrWQ3cqRw/s320-r/7Rs+of+change+management.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I'd originally scheduled 3 hours for the session to allow for lots of discussion (again, knowing who would be present). I surprised myself by keeping everyone on-track so that we actually finished in just over 2 hours. I think this was due to a few factors, My preparation headed off potential questions and that facilitation training continuing to pay off (thank you Cathy) ;) My agenda for the afternoon was:<br />
<ol><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZnuDVZsAT8mH49j42IPy2h4siv2sdS6dsvpaApDkciQ7z1e1V_i0s_9eUDh16n6lK-F-17iGbFH-ruqUjLUb0XkOQB-hV1pX00N_tCdRz33DrMB30EKtp04GSYPTHL7PF-gpo8g/s1600-h/peppershaker.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVkfrC9ck2JMPSBx9QP1eqxWnXP7MoTvwj1AqN5u7aRL34RnKFRF-JJHHSAo7Nd-31KmionV8vFHV5V6qIVeNfKyLdeGnK0EwdsEhws3DKu_n1bZ7nHDamsaz4ptiajIaVv92dHA/s200-r/peppershaker.gif" width="127" /></a>
<li>Purpose of session</li>
<li>Presentation - 'Let's Have Some Change Management - with a Dash of Pragmatism' </li>
<li>Normal Change Process (using process framework documentation)<br />
</li>
<li>Emergency Change Process (using process framework documentation)</li>
<li>Exercices (1: Name that change 2: Roleplay an emergency change with some curveballs throw in)<br />
</li>
<li>Wrap-up Discussion<br />
</li>
<li>Feedback forms (I believe in self-improvement)<br />
</li>
</ol>I was expecting quite a hard time from some of them - so I was pleasantly surprised that each manager present was taking notes and asking pertinent questions. The only negative feedback I had was that some of them think we should wait until we have the new ITSM tool in place before introducing change management. As all you ITSMers out there will know it's crucial to get the process agreed, documented and tested before implementing it in a tool - so I'm not too concerned about this point (although it certainly would be great if a more appropriate tool were in place to support the process in the meantime (and no - this is not an invitation for vendor spam thanks!).<br />
<br />
Only time will tell how effective or not the workshop was. The next stage is rolling out training to all the IT staff. It certainly achieved it's objective in educating them in the basics of change management, terminology, process, etc. One of the feedback forms actually showed that they thought they knew a lot going into the session, then coming out realised how much they didn't know and have yet to learn ;)<br />
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<i>It's times like this that I wish I would be there for the duration of the journey - letting go is never easy is it?</i><br />
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-37184918506280053102008-08-24T21:26:00.001+01:002008-08-24T21:50:09.333+01:00All change... and introducing changeAs those of you who have been here awhile will know, I've been trying to get an ITSM Programme going at my organisation for some time. I finally get the budget and the buy-in, and submit the mandate for approval to the board only for me to go and get another job. My timing is impeccable. I'm finding it quite difficult to let go as I still have this wonderful vision in my head that I want to make a reality. Anyhow, as that isn't going to happen time to replace it with a new vision - but I digress.<br />
<br />
Some months ago I was tasked with quickly introducing change control ahead of change management as part of the approved ITSM Implementation Programme. As you can imagine, I wasn't keen on doing this as I wanted it to be done in a properly managed way - however the business need was and continues to be there so I threw something together (through workshop with other key managers). They specificially didn't want a lot of documentation so two sides of A4 had to suffice. As predicted, confusion reined for people failed to understand what it was all about, how and when to use it, etc. What did they expect without allowing time for training or enough documentation to provide the detail required? <br />
<br />
Anyhow, one of my tasks before I head off is to train the IT managers in the basics of change management and teach them how and when to use our revised new change management process (only covers normal and emergency changes in an initially small scope). I spent today fleshing out the document with sufficient detail to address the questions they already have and those that will be asked and preparing some training packs and little laminated cards that they can stick by their PCs. Tomorrow I aim to finish the presentation that will go with it all because I'm delivering it on Wednesday afternoon! I'll let you know how it goes... <br />
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<br />
I recently applied for a new role and was successful so real life is somewhat busy for me at the moment as I deal with the transition. I am still working in local government with partnerships and shall be focused more upon project management and business transformation through IT for the foreseeable future instead of pure IT service management. No doubt, the nature of my future posts shall reflect this.<br />
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It's a wonderful opportunity to put some of that self-study for Prince 2 into practice on a larger scale than previously (although applied with a heavy dose of pragmatism!). No doubt there shall be challenges ahead and I'm looking forward to figuring out how to deal with them - hopefully coming out the other side unscathed!<br />
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-85591947264517617472008-07-24T17:17:00.000+01:002008-07-24T17:17:58.797+01:00Pssst... the 2008 edition of the PMBA is live!I don't get a lot of time to just sit and read - I tend to have an average of three books on the go at any one time and most of that time they are books related to industry, business, and personal development. With so many books out there on various topics it's hard to know which ones to spend my valuable time on. I came across PMBA (Personal MBA) by Josh Kaufman awhile back and wanted to share it with you. It's fundamentally a reading list of <a href="http://personalmba.com/best-business-books/">77 of the best business books</a> currently in print. The premise is that you may not be able to afford a MBA course but you can borrow books from the library like Good Will Hunting and put what you read into practice.<br />
<br />
The new 2008 list is now out. If you are already familiar with the previous list, <a href="http://personalmba.com/announcements/the-new-books-on-the-pmba-recommended-reading-list/">check here for new additions</a>. Personally I'm glad to see 'Presentation Zen' on there as I love the website and the reappearance of 'Getting Things Done' which I try to live by.<br />
<br />
If you are feeling rich you can buy the "<a href="http://personalmba.com/complete-business-book-library/?awt_l=MmUzZ&awt_m=1fP%20VcW6Dm3z0Yv">PMBA Complete Business Library</a>". If you already have some of the books in the PMBA you can use the "<a href="http://personalmba.com/batch-book-buyer/?awt_l=MmUzZ&awt_m=1fPVcW6Dm3z0Yv">Batch Book Buyer</a>" to only select the ones you want.<br />
<br />
Get out in the garden and enjoy a good read! <br />
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</script><div class="blogger-post-footer">Brought to you by The ITIL Imp ;)</div>The ITIL Imphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01585689728458511407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21551360.post-9661283307815236572008-07-21T20:20:00.000+01:002008-07-21T20:20:17.616+01:00Virtual Teams - where to start?The answer is in an <a href="http://www.leadingvirtually.com/">excellent blog</a> that has been going since November 2007 yet I've only recently discovered it. <a href="http://www.leadingvirtually.com/"> </a><br />
As they rightfully state:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">'Leaders of a virtual team face many challenges when leading a virtual team, including team building, motivating and developing team members from afar, rewarding team members even when they have no authority over their pay, and facilitating shared leadership and team learning. When virtual teams don’t succeed in meeting these challenges, they run over budget and miss important deadlines besides creating frustration and dissatisfaction among team members.'</blockquote>Their blog's mission is to help us learn about about virtual teams and what it takes to effectively lead them. Over the months their articles reflect their own experience as well as commentary upon scientific research. Subjects include virtual teams, leadership, collaboration, and computer-mediated communication (i.e., communication through email, instant messaging, discussion boards, video-conferencing, wikis, blogs, and virtual worlds).<br />
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<a href="http://www.leadingvirtually.com/">Leading Virtually</a> is well and truly on my subscription list; if you have an interest in virtual teams then I recommend you add it to yours!<br />
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