Adventures of the ITIL Imp

Music and Me - thank you Michael

2009-06-27T02:08:00.000+01:00

Unless 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...

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.

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. That is the power of music - may the world long remember him for it.

We've been together for such a long time now
Music, music and me
Don't care whether all our songs rhyme
Now music, music and me

Only know wherever I go
We're as close as two friends can be
There have been others
But never two lovers
Like music, music and me

Grab a song and come along
You can sing your melody
In your mind you will find
A world of sweet harmony

Birds of a feather will fly together
Now music, music and me
Music and me

RIP Michael - you live on for us, your fans.

Mindmapping on the move with Mindberry on the Storm!

2009-06-06T21:34:00.000+01:00

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 Mindberry for the Blackberry I got really excited and then was immediately disappointed when I saw it wasn't available for my model - the Blackberry Storm.

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 (Image from Mindberry.net).

Michael Deutch posted on the Mind Manager blog about 10 basic parts to a mindmap. Mindberry stacks up well against his list providing for 6/10 core features (Features: Topic: Central / Main / Sub, Markers, Notes, Markers, Hyperlinks and Attachments Does not feature: Topic: Callout / Floating, Relationship arrows, Boundaries).

The Good

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.

Pan: Tap and hold then move your finger to the desired position.
Select a topic: Tap it.
Add a sub-topic: Double-tap (not press) the parent topic. Enter the text desired and press enter or click on the OK button.
Expand / Contract topic: Click it.
Move a topic:Touch the topic, wait a moment until you see a '+' sign in the top-right corner of the screen then drag and drop.

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.

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.

Other tips:

Double-tap or Click to select items in one of the popup palettes (color, marker, font and line style).
Tap the toobar three times 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.
Tap the screen four times to re-centre the map on the central topic. I found I needed to use this a fair bit on my monster maps!
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).

It's worth noting that additonal context-sensitive functions are also available view the blackberry's menu key.

Styling: 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'.

Options: 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.

Export options 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.

Reliability: 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.

The Bad
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.

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?

Notes
Although the basics are well implemented:

To add you select the topic and click on the icon, enter the text and press OK.
To view a note, select the topic and click on the icon and a pop-up will show you the note text.
To delete 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'.

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.

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.

Tasks
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 :)

The Ugly
I don't think there is anything ugly about this little app (I just wanted to use the heading for consistency ;) ).

In summary
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).

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.

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!

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 download it!

Influence and Muckety Maps

2009-05-08T00:01:00.023+01:00

I first became familiar with influence maps when I read about them on the Mind Tools website 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.

Whlist browsing the web today I came across a website called 'Muckety.com - Exploring the paths of power and influence' 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 Do ties between Apple, Google pose antitrust issues? 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!

Creating accessible and accountable government in the US

2009-05-06T20:27:00.000+01:00

I came across a post on CIO Insight.com called 'Obama's Triad takes on government IT'. 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.

The holders of the posts are as follows:

CIO - Chief Information Officer - Vivek Kundra
CTO - Chief Technology Officer - Aneesh Chopra (Also see Aneesh Chopra named federal CTO)
CPO - Chief Performance Officer - Jeffrey Zients

Musings on Influence and Project Success

2009-04-10T00:01:00.003+01:00

For 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.

I recently read an interesting article 'How to 10X Your Influence' by Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, and Andrew Shimberg which was published in the MIT Sloan Management Review. They are from the same stable of Vital Smarts 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.

That's the key thing for me... sustainable 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.

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 Graham Robb Associates on Wednesday morning (*makes mental note to say more about this in another post*). Entitled 'Influencer: The Power to Change Anything' 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 videos on their website. I'm looking forward to reading it over the Easter holidays. If you want to have a peek yourself, the first chapter is available online.

Related posts:

VIDEO: A Guy In a Cube

2009-04-09T19:26:00.001+01:00

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).

Prince2 : 2009 Release Date

2009-04-08T21:21:00.000+01:00

It's official - the new Prince2:2009 material will be available from 16 June 2009. At least, so says the lead author's blog 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.

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...

Adventures on Twitter?

2009-02-25T23:37:00.000Z

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!

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 follow my adventures on Twitter. Although their less like adventures and more like a few steps outside the front door.

I have to say though - thus far, I'm not convinced and may soon find myself scrambling back up the cliff face!

Prince2 : 2009 Project Refresh

2009-02-21T13:53:00.000Z

Although I've been following Andy Murray's blog on the Prince 2 Refresh Project, 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.

In terms of structure there are now 7 Principles, 7 Themes (formerly components), and 7 Processes.

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'.

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.

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?

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!

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.

Are you interested in the refresh? What's your take on it?

Source:

Andy Murray's presentation of the project progress update at the International Congress for Project, Programme and Risk Management.
Copy of the slides for the presentation delivered above
BCS article: Prince 2 exams set to be refreshed Q2: 2009

Lessons learned from President Obama's Inauguration Speech

2009-01-27T23:33:00.018Z

I 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 first african-american inaugurated as President of the United States 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.

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 - "the price and the promise of citizenship".

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 'the price'; the potential benefits are 'the promise'.
"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."
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.

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 ;) ).

Are there any other lessons we can learn from his speech?

Independence is finally mine... the imp can drive!

2008-11-26T21:21:00.000Z

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).

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:

Cost of a provisional driving licence (if you don't have one already): £50
Insurance for a learner driver on the practice car
Theory test: £30
Practical test: £56.50
Driving lessons: £20 to £26 per hour in my area
Supplementary materials (e.g. DVD, Highway code): £25 for learner pack from DSA inc. L plates
Free information: Lots of good stuff on the motoring pages of the Direct Gov website.

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 all 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:

'I'm pleased to say you've passed.'

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!

Major thanks go to:
My partner: All your support, patience with manoeuvres and learning to trust my ability to stop the car.
My driving instructor - Dave Lewsey: 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.

Need to keep IT on track? Put a woman in charge ;)

2008-11-20T22:18:00.002Z

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 Computing this week in reference to Catherine Doran who won their 'IT Leader of the Year' award. Congratulations Catherine!

KEEPING IT ON TRACK
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.

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....

Read the full story at http://www.computing.co.uk/2230730.

The path to CIO - as a black woman - to be or not to be?

2008-11-16T21:14:00.000Z

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.

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 Gail Roper - a black female CIO working in US government. Do you know of any others?

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?

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 :)

Amazing times...

2008-11-08T22:10:00.003Z

In a departure from my normal topics - I can't let this one pass without joining in the commentary with my personal take.

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.

We've seen the first black formula one world champion in the form of Lewis Hamilton (image source: inthenews). 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.

I'm not sure I ever truly believed that I would witness such a day in my lifetime and I'm certain that Ann Nixon Cooper (106 year old American activist for African-American people's rights) never believed it either.

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.

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.

If Martin Luther King could see this now...

20081104_Chicago_IL_ElectionNight1520, originally uploaded by Barack Obama.

The future of ITIL V2 rests in your hands...

2008-10-20T18:51:00.004+01:00

Thanks to The IT Skeptic for drawing my attention to this. I've had my say - make sure you have yours!

Here is an opportunity to have your say on the future of ITIL V2. EXIN is running an anonymous poll of public opinion 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.

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,
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.
Experienced knowledgeable expertise in V3 is still rare.
The market - that's us - should resist pressure to force us onto V3 before we are ready.

Happy one month anniversary to me!

2008-10-15T11:49:00.000+01:00

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).

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.

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? ;)

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...

ITIL V3 Intermediate Level Syllabi Published and mini rant

2008-09-27T01:32:00.002+01:00

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 (ITIL Live Portal - Cheeky blighters!, ITIL Live Portal - Cheeky blighters, part 2, ITIL Live Portal - what DID they promise anyway?) 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!"

Remember, you don't need qualifications to do service management! Anyway, for those of you who would like to go through the v3 churning machine - here you go:

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 ITIL V3 Qualification Scheme.
Once candidates have accumulated a sufficient number of credits they can be awarded the ITIL Expert in IT Service Management.
There are four levels within the scheme:
Foundation Level
Intermediate Level (Lifecycle Stream and Capability Stream)
ITIL Expert
ITIL Master.
Syllabi for the Intermediate Level have been published and can be seen below:
Capability Stream
Operational Support and Analysis Certificate Syllabus
Planning, Protection and Optimization Certificate Syllabus
Release, Control and Validation Certificate Syllabus
Service Offerings and Agreements Certificate Syllabus.
Lifecycle Stream
Service Strategy Certificate Syllabus
Service Design Certificate Syllabus
Service Transition Certificate Syllabus
Service Operation Certificate Syllabus
Continual Service Improvement Certificate Syllabus
Managing Across the Lifecycle.

Source: Best Management Practice

Starting from scratch...

2008-09-21T17:51:00.001+01:00

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.

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.

Monday - 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!

Tuesday - 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.

Wednesday - 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.

Thursday - 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.

Friday - 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.

Conclusion after week one: 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 ;)

Government IT Profession Annual Conference

2008-09-13T16:34:00.000+01:00

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 cio.gov.uk website):

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
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.

For further information visit: http://www.cio.gov.uk/itprofession/annual_conference

ITIL v3 Foundation Syllabus Review

2008-09-08T18:21:00.000+01:00

There'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:

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.

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.

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.
View the ITIL V3 Foundation (and Bridge) Syllabus Review Process (pdf)
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.

Find out more about the ATO Representative Election Results.
Foundation Syllabus Questionnaire
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
ITIL V3 students
Accredited ITIL trainers
ITIL examiners.
Please complete this questionnaire to provide us with your feedback on syllabus and exams.

Change Management Training Workshop - Phase 1

2008-08-29T16:07:00.003+01:00

Hoorah! 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.

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:

Purpose of session
Presentation - 'Let's Have Some Change Management - with a Dash of Pragmatism'
Normal Change Process (using process framework documentation)
Emergency Change Process (using process framework documentation)
Exercices (1: Name that change 2: Roleplay an emergency change with some curveballs throw in)
Wrap-up Discussion
Feedback forms (I believe in self-improvement)

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!).

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 ;)

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?

All change... and introducing change

2008-08-24T21:26:00.001+01:00

As 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.

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?

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...

All change...

2008-08-08T00:19:00.000+01:00

Due to some changes in real life I shall be updating on Wednesdays and Saturdays instead of Tuesdays and Fridays. That way, I really have no excuse not to post more regularly!

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.

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!

Pssst... the 2008 edition of the PMBA is live!

2008-07-24T17:17:00.000+01:00

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 77 of the best business books 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.

The new 2008 list is now out. If you are already familiar with the previous list, check here for new additions. 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.

If you are feeling rich you can buy the "PMBA Complete Business Library". If you already have some of the books in the PMBA you can use the "Batch Book Buyer" to only select the ones you want.

Get out in the garden and enjoy a good read!

Virtual Teams - where to start?

2008-07-21T20:20:00.000+01:00

The answer is in an excellent blog that has been going since November 2007 yet I've only recently discovered it.
As they rightfully state:

'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.'

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).

Leading Virtually is well and truly on my subscription list; if you have an interest in virtual teams then I recommend you add it to yours!

ITIL v3 books - 1st impression amendments

2008-07-10T23:19:00.000+01:00

I've seen comments in forums about issues with the 1st impression of the core v3 books and the inconsistencies across them. I'd also heard that there were some amendments available but they aren't exactly widely advertised - if you can find the pointer on the OGC site please let me know! So, if like me you bought a set at launch, be sure to download and print these amendments.

ITIL Live Portal - what DID they promise anyway?

2008-06-29T14:42:00.002+01:00

Well, this business has bugged me so much that I went back and checked 'The Official Introduction to the ITIL Service Lifecycle' found the following on page 7:

"1.6.3 ITIL web support services
These products are online, interactive services including a Glossary of Terms and Definitions, Interactive Service Management Model, online subscriber services, case studies, templates and ITIL Live (www.itil-live-portal.com), an interactive expert knowledge centre where users can access time with ITSM experts to discuss questions and issues, and seek advice."

Let's go through these services one by one.

A Glossary of Terms and Definitions - Freely available on OGC Best Management Practice site
Interactive Service Management Model - currently the demo available on ITIL LIVE PORTAL which is hosted by TSO
Online subscriber services - Well... seems this is being tied in with the ISMM above.
Case studies - Where? These hardly count...
Templates - Also being tied in with the ISMM which will be a subscriber service.
ITIL Live (www.itil-live-portal.com) - Subscriber service
Interactive expert knowledge centre - Where? Is this supposed to count?

Due to the use of commas in the text, I interpreted the statement as meaning that there will be online subscriber services but because they were listed separately to others that they were NOT the same as the ITIL Live OR the 'Interactive Service Management Model'. Seeing as the currently ITIL Live Portal demo IS an Interactive Service Management Model it makes me wonder if we'll be expected to subscribe for the other web services that I understood to be free. Is the misinterpretation all down to the use of grammar - or did they really mean to mislead us? It seems I'm not the only one who was under this misapprehension either... check out The IT Skeptic.

ITIL Live Portal - Cheeky blighters, part 2

2008-06-27T19:18:00.008+01:00

Okay... I've had a look and it strikes me that they are trying to go into direct competition with the likes of PinkElephant's PinkATLAS and Fox IT's FoxPrism products. This colours my prior indignation a little bit in - but only a little bit. I suppose we can't expect to get anything for free these days - especially from TSO.

1. The 'demo' is a bunch of screenshots with hyperlinks to other screenshots with a couple of templates for download. If compared to the quality of information available from PinkAtlas and FoxPrism - I think we'll find this sorely lacking so I hope the price tag will reflect this.

2. They haven't tested their survey before putting it out live to an ITIL best practice community. Well ain't that sensible? :P

3. Did I misinterpret the words of Sharon Taylor at various events? Is this 'Living Library' only about selling materials or is it really about a community sharing best practice?

4. Looks like they missed an option on their preferred service payments, i.e. free ;)

7) Having digested the offering, which of the 4 subscription models would you prefer?

Individual Lifecycle Stage Service Model: Provides access to the Service Model for one or more of the lifecycle stages. Any item from the Knowledge Base would be paid for on an ad hoc basis.

Service Model: Provides an annual online subscription to the entire Service Model. Any items from the Knowledge Base would be paid for on an ad hoc basis.

Service Model plus limited Knowledge Base: Provides an annual online subscription to the entire Service Model with a finite amount of content from the Knowledge Base, for example the templates. Any additional items would be paid for on an ad hoc basis.

Tailored Access Model: Provides access based on your Organisations profile. For example a consultant would require access to everything ITIL LIVE has to offer whereas a Change Manager may only require access to Service Transition, Operation and Design.
i. If yes, what areas of the site would you be interested in?

ITIL Live with full access to the Knowledge Base: Provides an annual online subscription to both the Service Model and all content within the Knowledge Base. – skip question 9

Points for design, not so many for content yet. Maybe we'll have that in another year?

By all means go ahead and take a look and be sure to let them know what you think. I have!

ITIL Live Portal - Cheeky blighters!

2008-06-27T18:50:00.003+01:00

Well... we interrupt this broadcast with some disturbing news. Since June last year we've been looking forward to the promised complementary guidance that will be available on the ITIL Live Portal. The prospect of an official community all coming together for knowledge sharing seemed almost too good to be true - and well, it is. Silly me for thinking it would be a free service.

As someone registered as interested, I just received this e-mail:

Meeting the needs of the community

You recently registered your interest in ITIL Live via the website. To help ensure ITIL Live meets the needs of the IT Service Management community we are undertaking some quantitative research. As a thank you all respondents who complete the questionnaire by 1st July 2008 will receive a 10% discount off their year one subscription*.

This survey involves a short demonstration of ITIL Live followed by some questions relating to the offering. We would be very grateful if you could spend ten minutes reviewing the offering and completing the survey linked below.

ITIL Live Product Offering

ITIL Live has been created with the help of the Chief Architect and Authors of ITIL Version 3 to help you increase your understanding and assist you with your implementation of the ITIL Service Management Lifecycle.

It brings together, for the first time, the main practice elements of each of the lifecycle phases, the 27 processes that underpin each lifecycle phase and the Roles associated with each stage in a graphical Service Model. ITIL Live will help you see at a glance how the lifecycle works, who is involved, what they need to do and will offer supporting tools to enable them to deliver.

We would be very grateful if you could spend a few minutes reviewing the ITIL Live Demo.

As you will have seen from the demo, the Service Model will be accessible via three routes. Each offers several tiers of drill down capability each illustrating a further level of detail. Within the deepest level you will find the Knowledge Base offering access to downloadable templates and, in time, other documentation such as real life examples, further guidance and subject-specific publications to assist with you day-to-day use and adoption of ITIL.

Please let us know what you think of ITIL Live by completing a short survey

*Assuming the product goes ahead this offer is for one single user base subscription only per respondent. Redeemable within one month of product launch this offer is not to be used in conjunction with any other offer or discount.

Excuse me... am I supposed to be pleased at the idea of a discount for something that we were led to believe would be free of charge?

I'm off to review the product (which it now clearly is) and fill out the survey. I recommend that you do the same!

I shall write up my thoughts on the product for my next blog post, delaying the write up of the itSMF e-symposium on Service Delivery Automation.

Referral does not = endorsement !

2008-06-24T19:18:00.003+01:00

Hmm... whilst I appreciate people driving traffic to my blog, I just want to highlight that in the case of 'Loyalist Certification Services', I have had no experience of them and their referral to this blog is in no way an endorsement by myself of them and their services. Although it is not specifically stated, I believe it is implied so wanted to clear that up.

My ITIL training was completed with Fox IT whom I would recommend without hesitation.

Service Delivery and Service Automation

2008-06-24T00:01:00.000+01:00

On Thursday I attended the latest itSMF e-symposium 'Service Delivery and Service Automation' (the presentations will be available from the archive in a couple of days if you missed it). There were four presentations, each of which seemed to skew more towards either the 'Service Delivery' element or the 'Service Automation' element. They were:'

- 'The Strategy for Success' by Chris Dowding of Fox IT
- 'How to create an automated Service Management structure in line with business need' by Jack Robertson Worsfold of Icore
- 'Building a foundation for an effective approach to process automation' by Chip Mason of IBM
- 'For the Customers ........ we change and automate' by Matthew Burrows of BSMImpact

I thought the most useful of the four was the third presentation by Chip Mason although there were a few things in each of the others that made it worthwhile. So if you only have time to listen to one - make it his. In the main, the e-symposium confirmed that I'm heading the right way with our soon to actually happen (maybe? hopefully? !) ITSM Programme in terms of definition of services and workflow to automate delivery of said services where possible.

As with the last event, I will post my key learning points from each presentation over the next two blog entries covering two presentations in each as well as detailing the Q&A.

Just a note about the facilitation by Mike Simons of Computerworld UK... better than the last in that we actually got comfort breaks this time (much appreciated). However, when it was clearly not an appropriate forum to be asking presenters for their recommendations on ITSM and workflow tools - why put them in the awkward position of asking? Far better I think to acknowledge the volume of requests, state that it was not an appropriate forum for vendor recommendations and refer people to the itSMF discussion or private e-mails (which happened with each but why put 3 of the 4 presenters through the question?).

ITIL v3 Qualifications Update

2008-06-20T00:01:00.001+01:00

I know that this information has been out for awhile but I now realise that I haven't actually posted about it and I really should...

Fundamentally, we now know the offical names for the new ITIL v3 exams. There is also a published schedule for when we can expect to see the syllabi and examinations for the new qualifications.

Official Qualification Titles:
The Qualification Board involved the ITSM community by surveying itSMF members and Accredited Training Organisations (ATOs) on their preference for the formal titles of ITIL Qualifications. The results of the survey were reviewed and endorsed by the Board and are as follows:

Service Lifecycle and Service Capability Modules and Managing Across the Lifecycle will be known officially as ITIL Intermediate Certificates.

A candidate who has achieved the minimum accumulation of 22 credits across a selection of balanced V2 and V3 modules will be awarded the ITIL Expert Certificate.

Candidates who satisfy the requirement of the currently titled Advanced level will be awarded the ITIL Master Certificate.

As I have written previously, this is all very well but it makes it a very expensive, both in terms of time and money, route from the uninitiated through to ITIL Master. Whilst it is still possible, I recommend the v2 manager's certification route with the v3 manager bridging exam as the cheaper option. You can always read the v3 books after ;)

Read the full press release from the APMG on the itSMFi website.

You're fired...You're hired! - Prince 2 style...

2008-06-17T23:56:00.004+01:00

The Imp has been on adventures in another country and is now back, refreshed, and looking forward to what the remainder of 2008 holds. How fast it seems to be going!

If you are one of the many who have seen Alan Sugar's 'The Apprenice' and you have an interest in project management, you may appreciate this post. I read an amusing white paper published by FGI ltd entitled: '"You're fired": What The Apprentice Project Managers could learn from PRINCE2™'

The author takes us through a review of the series highlighting some of the tasks and how things could have been handled had the Prince 2 methodology been applied (in a very pragmatic way I might add). It leads to a rather interesting conclusion over who should really have been hired and who should have been fired. I won't give it away - read it for yourself (note - their Prince 2 resources website requires registration).

Collaborative Working with Mind Manager

2008-05-30T00:59:00.000+01:00

I am a huge fan of mindmapping on paper as well as and 'mindmapping' electronically using Mind Manager by Mindjet. A few weeks back I was pleased to get an invitation to try out 'Mind Manager Connect' - their solution to collaborative working.

I've had a bit of a play with some of my work colleagues and it would actually address some immediate issues for us. Due to the nature of partnership working we frequently waste time travelling between sites for meetings (although there is a lot to be said for face-to-face communication). The solution from Mindjet could enable us to be more effective (as well as helping to convert a few more people to the benefits of the tool ;) ). I did notice that it makes use of NetViewer for elements of the collaborative platform (why design something from scratch yourself when you can make use of another industry solution?).

The main issue I see at the moment is companies not necessarily wanting to have their data hosted on external servers (although this attitude is changing with so many SAAS software-as-a-service offerings nowadays). When I asked Mindjet about this, they did suggest that there would be an internal hosting option available, although not at release.

Anyhow, here is an extract from their FAQ to further whet your appetites:

What is Mindjet Connect?
Mindjet Connect helps individuals and teams to work faster and more effectively using a dynamic, flexible online environment.

Combined with MindManager Pro 7 SP2 Beta or MindManager Web (coming soon), Mindjet Connect organizes, simplifies and streamlines the way people interact and share information they need - through secure workspaces, real-time collaboration and web conferencing.

Mindjet Connect helps to establish the context captured in visual maps while providing a collaborative platform for sharing and contributing information in secure workspaces.

People can co-edit visual maps in real-time, chat and launch web conferencing to present maps and other documents. The result is a high performance workplace where teams can work more productively anytime or anywhere.
Back to Top

How can Mindjet Connect help me work more effectively in teams?
The speed of today’s business requires disparate teams to work together to accomplish more, faster. Mindjet Connect can help your team achieve more with every minute, and work together to accelerate success – productively.
Improve meeting efficiency

* Save time preparing for meetings by keeping all of your important files at your fingertips. Organize project workspaces with dynamic links to files so you always have the most up-to-date version.
* Get the right team members involved with an instant online meeting and collaborate with team members no matter where they are located.
* Brainstorm and Innovate. Enhance strategic thinking and facilitate quicker project planning by white boarding and co-editing visual maps with your team members, simultaneously. Your team can now share the same map and add topics, details, notes and attach file resources.

Manage projects to achieve more in less time

* Align objectives and actions, clearly. Create an environment where everyone can see and understand the relationship between themselves, resources and actions to the objectives of the project – helping achieve clarity and avoid wasted time.
* Foster participation and strategic thinking. Provide a common environment that makes it easy to capture and organize the best ideas, techniques and approaches to accomplish anything – with visual maps that are quickly understood and easily shared.
* Simplify and streamline business and interactive work processes – from one or two individuals to entire organizations.

Create context for information management

* Keep everyone on the same page by creating workspaces where Microsoft Office™ files and web content can be linked, stored and shared so everyone can access and use information more productively.
* Keep track of revisions and version history. Files can be checked out / checked in so everyone is on the same page, and fully up to date.
* Set access controls for who can be an owner, author or reader within a workspace.

Collaborate & communicate effectively

* Communicate in real-time with the ability to see who is online, view work being done by others on a map in real-time, and interact through a variety of online tools.
* Host web conferences to share any kind of file or application.
* Edit maps with your team members, simultaneously. Your team can share the same map and add topics, details, notes and attach file resources.

What are some of the notable features of Mindjet Connect Beta?

Co-editing visual maps - One of our most exciting new features. Co-editing allows multiple users on different computers in different locations to work on the same map at the same time. It’s true real-time collaboration over the Internet.

Instant Meeting - You can experience true virtual collaboration through the integration of web conferencing and white boarding sessions.

Secure Workspaces - Create new workspaces when you need them, for new projects, new teams and new clients. Then tailor your workspaces with access controls for invited members, locking and versioning of documents, integration with e-mail and importing of maps and secondary documents.

MindManager Web (coming soon, not available for beta) - Access your workspaces and collaborate anytime within a standard web browser. You’ll have access to your data, even when you aren’t at your own computer.

Other reviews:
The Mind Mapping Software Weblog
CABRE - Applications of Mind Manager

Girl Geek Dinners

2008-05-27T00:01:00.000+01:00

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I am pretty passionate about women working in IT and that it is a little demotivating to hear stories about people leaving the profession and the number of girls who are not opting to study computing in it's various guises.

Thanks to a fellow woman referencing it on the BCS Women's discussion group I came across this article (website | PDF) in the Guardian about 'Girl Geek Dinners'.

Created by Sarah Blow, from what I can see it's another networking group that seeks to raise the profile of women working in IT. They have groups all over the world - perhaps it's time that this geeky imp checked them out ;)

SFIA v4 Update - have your say

2008-05-22T23:42:00.002+01:00

ITIL refresh... Prince 2 refresh... let's add another one to the list with SFIA (Skills for the Information Age)! This just in today from e-skills:

This is to let you know that consultation has now begun on the development of version 4 of the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). IT professionals, their employers and those responsible for their education and training are invited to participate by visiting ...

http://sfia.textmatters.com/

Everyone who has an interest in IT skills can comment on the existing skills definitions and make suggestions for new content. If you need any guidance on what is needed, you can see some notes on the SFIA web site at ...

http://www.sfia.org.uk/cgi-bin/wms.pl/1711

... and there is a link from there to the Update site.

SFIA provides the most widely-accepted definitions of IT skills and is now used by more than 1,000 organisations to produce job descriptions and role profiles, support resource planning, and improve business effectiveness. It has been translated into Chinese and Japanese.

Quote: "The great strength of SFIA is that it is based on actual best practice in the workplace. Users can therefore be confident that it provides a tried and tested solution to their IT skills management needs."

The consultation will run through to September and SFIA version 4 is due to be released before the end of 2008.

How hard is it to run a forum anyway?

2008-04-23T20:30:00.003+01:00

WARNING: this post is nothing but a rant from an unwell blogger who is too tired to think up any real content.

I don't normally rant here but I think this is worthy of an exception. I thought it was a great thing when the itSMF uk announced that they were redesigning their website. On the whole it is a significant improvement on the last one which was stuck in the 90s. That said... what is the deal with their forum? itSMF - it Service Management 'FORUM'. A means for us to gather and discuss all matters relating to IT Service Management right? Wrong. The current web forum is actually worse than the old one in terms of functionality. In a web 2.0 world where we expect a lot from our internet browsing experience, how hard is it to give us a web forum with basic features such as the ability to view new posts since your last visit; to bookmark threads that you are interested in, etc. ? Even the itsmfi have a better forum platform!

I think they do a great job at achieving the forum in terms of the SIGs (Special Interest Groups) and conferences... but where is a decent WEB forum to encourage IT Service Management professionals to interact with one another?

Come on itSMF uk... it's now the 2nd quarter of 2008 - get it together for those of us who can't make it to all your face-to-face events! Who's with me?

I should just add that I have years of experience in running web-based forums and just know that you can do better - no, I don't want to do it for you ;)

Women getting back into IT

2008-04-18T06:00:00.003+01:00

As a woman working in a predominantly male industry it can be quite frustrating at times. Particularly when I read articles regarding the continuing imbalance between the genders as regards pay-scales for the same job (although I suspect that local government may do a better job of this than the private sector - I wonder if anyone has sent in Freedom of Information requests to find out...).

At the moment, I'm constantly getting jibes regarding my age and how I shouldn't wait much longer before having children. There is a valid argument behind this. However, like many women I'm pretty career-focused and can't help wondering if I were to take time off to bring up a child whether I may find myself in the same boat as other women trying to return to work after a career break, e.g. less likely to get a promotion or even not getting a job utilising your skills at all! The research (2005) reflects a sad truth. If anyone is aware of any more recent studies that buck the trend I would be very interested in them!

This question published in the Guardian last November is but one example of the reality for women in IT.

For those women who are already on the other side of their break, there is some advice available from the likes of Equalitec (see the ITEC Career Opportunities for Women Returners, July 2005) and BCS Women.

Whitepapers and research

2008-04-16T17:56:00.004+01:00

I've been catching up on some reading the past week and wanted to share some links with you.

1. Whitepaper: ITIL® V3 and ISO/IEC 20000 by Jenny Dugmore and Sharon Taylor
This outlines the differences between ITIL V3 and ISO/IEC 20000 from 'the perspective of each clause in the standard where the core 5 ITIL books either do not cover it or cover it differently. It does not cover changes that mean ITIL V3 is closer aligned to
ISO/IEC 20000 than was ITIL V2. The table included within this white paper is an ISO/IEC 20000-1 centric document. It identifies clauses where there are notable differences between ISO/IEC 20000 and ITIL V3 that are not simply due to the different purposes of the two sets of documents.'

As it is only 6 pages are we to infer that there aren't many differences? As I have not yet read a fully copy of the ISO 20000 standard I'm unable to comment. I thought this may be useful for those of you who are going down that route though.

2. The Forrester Wave: Service Desk Management Tools, Q2 2008 by Chip Gliedman
Garner have the 'Magic Quadrant' and Forrester the 'Wave'. This report evaluates 16 products from 13 vendors and presents two waves. One for large enterprises (or those with complex requirements) and one for small enterprises (or large ones with simple requirements). The results are pretty consistent with HP, Remedy, CA, IBM, and Axios solutions classed as 'leaders' for large enterprises. What is interesting is that Infra who were only added to the Gartner Magic Quadrant last time around have also made it into the 'leader' class. Also, the software as a service solution from Service-now.com it only just outside as a 'strong performer'. Interesting times for vendors...

3. Whitepapers from EMC (Infra Enterprise)
Normally I'm not a fan of vendor whitepapers as they are generally a major sales pitch. Spurred on by the Forrester Wave I thought I'd take a look at those from Infra and I was pleasantly surprised. Aside from a few typographical errors and a missing word that changes the meaning of a sentence to the exact opposite in one (immediately obvious to anyone who knows ITIL, so much so that you almost put the missing word in without realising) I thought there were some good ideas in there - particularly the service catalogue. I'd only seen this sort of thing in dedicated products like Newscale.

Moving your ITIL Implementation Forward - part 4

2008-04-11T18:00:00.002+01:00

It's here, the final part in the series! This covers the question and answer session from the itSMF e-symposium entitled: 'Moving your ITIL Implementation Forward - what are your next steps?' on 18th March 2008.

Round Table - Questions and Answers
I didn't catch the names of everyone who asked questions, suffice to say it was worthwhile hanging on until the end.

Q1. How do we measure the ROI of ITIL v3 adoption?
A1. Rob Stroud observed that the last 60 days have seen a massive move to v3 and went on to say that IT needs to measure things at a different level in a way that the business see as important, i.e. the provision of service. He states that the ROI of ITIL is not necessarily tangible in bankable cost-savings.
Malcolm lightened the mood by informing us that he often thinks of the ROI of ITIL as the 'return on insurance', i.e. the potential cost of not doing it.
Sharon was quick to point out that there are other benefits aside from the financial.

Q2. Can you drive COBIT and ITIL agenda from middle management or does it have to be C-level?
A2. Harvey was strongly of the view that it doesn't need to wait for higher level management. He has been fortunate in his role to take what he needs and get on with it. He did note that for funding senior management do need to be involved.
Georges echoed Harvey's viewpoint stating that you can always start within your own area of responsibility. The organisation can then look at your area as a centre of excellence and adopt in the wider scene (why does Zapp! come to mind?). He did advocate the need to sell to senior management to expand beyond your own area.

Q3. ITIL certification is always on individual basis. Will it ever be organisational?
A3. Sharon sees no need for ITIL certification to go beyond the individual as for organisational certification there is ISO 20000 (ITIL v3 is aligned with ISO 20000). One of the drivers for individual certification is to promote ITSM as a profession within the IT industry. Harvey reiterated that "ISO 20000 is the quality standard for ITSM".
Rob informed the delegates that he often is asked for products that are actually ITIL accredited. (ITILImp: Currently there is only the PinkVerify scheme which has recently been updated to take account of v3).

Q4. Why do you need to know what level something is at?
A4. Georges picked this one up but I didn't make many notes other than the comment that COBIT certification is for the individual only, not the organisation.

Q5. v3 exams are now multiple choice rather than written. Is this a dumbing down of the qualification?
A5. I've heard this comment a lot since the itSMF conference last year and the answer hasn't changed.
Sharon stated that it is not a dumbing down and that there is a misconception regarding multiple-choice. The exam formats have been based upon research into undergraduate and postgraduate university examinations. The ITIL exams will use a blend of simple multiple-choice at foundation level whilst the higher level exames will use gradient, complex multiple-choice (e.g. one answer is the most correct, another is less correct, etc.). Apparently this challenges the application of what someone knows rather than their ability to write a paper. Exam pilots suggested that this format is actually harder than the v2 essay format for the manager's certificate. She also made the valid points that it removes the objectivity in terms of the exam grading and will benefit those writing in non-native languages.

As an academic himself it is not surprising that Georges stressed the benefits of multiple choice commenting upon their adaptability to the complexity of questions you want as well as being easy to mark.

Malcolm isn't a fan of these and believes that they lack the interpretation... the why. I liked his suggestion that for the new v3 Advanced ITSM Diploma candidates could write a white paper or say 30 pages as a way of demonstrating that they are a proven practitioner. The end result could then form part of the ITIL v3 complementary guidance. Sharon interjected to say that something akin to this IS part of the advanced service professional certification.

Q6. Will the business guys be worried that IT want to take over the business?
A6. Rob didn't think so, "Communication is the key".
Georges pointed out that ITSM benefits from the business as it positions IT to deliver capabilities. A service is not worthwhile if it is not delivering what the business needs. He also said that it helps accountability with clarification betweeen business failures vs it failures.
Sharon wrapped up by paraphrasing from a Harvard study, "CIOs have to be business leaders, not IT-centric".

All in all, a good set of questions and answers. Although I'm sure there were lots more questions that didn't make the cut. I put a few in (one being a request for Harvey's full workshop as it was really good stuff) and had one answered but the one that I thought would be a quickie that wasn't answered was: "When will the ITIL Live Portal be going live?" It's mentioned in all the books and it now almost a year since they came out. Since then, on a little adventure this ITIL Imp notices that the http://www.itil-live-portal.com address is now redirected to The Stationary Office (TSO) which assures us that it is 'coming soon' (Perhaps that is June, or the next eclipse of the moon, who knows?). Register for updates to find out.

There we have it... the final in this series. I wonder where my next adventure lies...

Moving your ITIL Implementation Forward - part 3

2008-04-09T19:58:00.004+01:00

Before I start, my apologies for failing to get this up on Tuesday 25th March as hoped. I almost wonder whether I should start following ITIL principles for my blog posting regime ;)

Today's post was going to be the final part in this series. However, as I was writing it became longer and longer so I figure you can have a part 4 on Friday!.

Georges Ataya and Rob Stroud - IT Governance for the Real World, Mapping COBIT & ITIL
This presentation started off with a little background about ISACA and the ITGI. One thing that I wasn't aware of is the introduction of a qualification: Certification in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT). Aimed squarely at professionals and management who are responsible for governance in one of the domains, the first exam will be in December 2008.

The presenters reiterated the message that most of us reading on the subject already know: COBIT and ITIL are complementary - they are not competitors. (As mentioned in a previous blog entry, we are still waiting for the updated COBIT 4.1 to ITIL v3 mapping which is apparently close to completion - at the time of writing not published on the ISACA website).

After a high level summary of the content of COBIT (and I mean high-level!) the point was made that, when considering the introduction of IT governance and IT Service Management, a top-down approach should be used, i.e. IT Governance first and IT Service Management next. As with ITIL implementations, they recommend that you select the bits that are immediately relevant to you to solve business issues rather than trying to implement all domains in one go.

There was nothing else that leapt out at me during the presentation other than:
1. Reference to the COBIT Maturity model, level 3 is considered to be 'compliant'.
2. I believe that Rob Stroud (apologies if it is George Ataya) is currently writing a service management guide to 'implementing COBIT in your environment'. It's already on my 'to buy' list :)

The final part of this series will be on Friday as I have already written it (I am testing the new Blogger scheduling function which if it works, may lead to more regular updates).

Moving your ITIL Implementation Forward - part 2

2008-03-21T21:45:00.006Z

This post continues my summary of key points from the itSMF's latest e-symposium, 'Moving your ITIL Implementation Forward' this time focusing upon Malcolm Fry's 'ITIL V3 Essentials and the Role of a CMDB' and Harvey Davison's 'What Should Configuration do for Change?'

Malcolm Fry - ITIL V3 Essentials and the Role of a CMDB
I've seen a lot of presentations from Malcolm on-line but not had the opportunity to see him live so this was particularly interesting to me - if its possible to assess a presenter's style from an online web seminar anyway!

One of the things that I found interesting was his immediate acknowledgment of the v3 certification scheme being superior to that of v2. He strongly felt that in v2 everyone forgot about the other 7 ITIL books (true enough) and that with v3 the assessment of ALL core books will lead to more rounded ITSM professionals.

He also dropped a plug for a book that he is writing at the moment with working title: 'How to build a service management department'. I look forward to seeing what it has to offer.

His presentation faltered a moment for me when he talked about the v3 lifecycle and had the wrong order of the core books up on screen (had transition after operation instead of before). Something fundamental like that inevitably then makes you question the accuracy and validity of the rest of the presentation but thankfully that was the only error I spotted.

The slides showing how v2 and v3 work together were quite helpful, but most amusing was his use of a perfume analogy to achieve an ITIL implementation road map. Apparently in perfume making there are four key things: Primary, Modifier, Blender and Fixative. He expounded upon the analogy by showing how the various ITIL processes could slot into one of these categories, e.g. Incident, Problem, and Change Management came under Primary with Financial management listed as a fixative.

There wasn't really anything of note in the section on the Service Knowledge Management System (SKMS) except that he reiterated the benefits of template CIs. Towards the end of the presentation he did make a joke regarding how there should be a 'decision management' process in ITIL. Someone pointed out in the Q&A afterwards that this exists in the form of IT governance and went on to promote A 8015:2005 which is the Australian standard which has been taken to form the basis of a new ISO standard.

Harvey Davison's 'What Should Configuration do for Change?'
Of all the presentations I think that this was the most interesting and useful for me. This may be because he is working in the trenches of Lloyds TSB and using ITIL theory successfully in practice. I really liked the whole approach to identifying which areas to attack first in the creation of a CMDB and using change management as a driver for this.

The approach sounds simple enough... define the objectives, identify the results required, and ascertain what is needed to deliver those results. Actually doing this can be quite a challenge though.

When it came to defining their CIs they divided into type, role, and status. In doing this they were then able to produce a cube which showed where best to focus their efforts.

An analogy I liked was seeing the infrastructure as a jenga tower. The CMBD then tells you which brick you can pull out safely without the tower falling down.

To be honest there was so much good stuff in this presentation that, rather than me trying to summarise it here, I highly recommend that you sign up to the itSMF e-symposium and go listen to it and download the slides in the archive!

Check back on Tuesday for the final summary featuring Georges Ataya's and Rob Stroud's presentation on 'IT Governance for the Real World, Mapping COBIT & ITIL' and a summary of the roundtable Q&A.

Moving your ITIL Implementation Forward

2008-03-18T18:04:00.005Z

This afternoon I 'attended' an itSMF e-symposium entitled: 'Moving your ITIL Implementation Forward - what are your next steps?' Before I summarise my thoughts on the whole thing I must say that I didn't think that any of the presentations, or indeed answers to the questions, addressed the question posed. It was really more of an introduction to ITIL and IT Governance than what I interpreted it to be, i.e. a high-level process for planning and implementing ITIL with focus on the first steps of visioning, road-map etc. Admittedly the summaries of the presentations immediately suggested that it was not going to deliver what I hoped, but still I thought it worth attending. So... coffee in hand and Mind Manager at the ready, I listened to the music before the symposium began.

The Interface
The enterprise web-cast platform is provided by Brightcast. Having pre-registered for the event I received a reminder e-mail the night before and it was a simple matter to login with my username and password. As a spectator rather than presenter there was no need for me to dial up to listen, just delivered as you would expect through your PC soundcard. Limited controls during the live symposium as there was no way of pausing when I wanted to nip to the toilet / get a drink. However, there were tabs to make it easy to submit questions (shame you could not view which other questions had already been asked) and download the presentations in PDF format. Finally there was a tab to take the CPD test to get your certificate.

The Presentations

Sharon Taylor - What's going on out there?
This was fundamentally an updated version of the presentation she delivered at the itSMF conference last year. A few points:
- She believes that ITIL v3 will achieve an increase in the measurement of both Business value and ROI.
- Observed that the ITIL was previously geared towards a purely operational audience and now this is broader including CIOs and the wider business.
- Ran through some of the areas that people are picking from v3 for early adoption.
      - Service Portfolio Management
      - Service Catalogue Management
      - ROI Business cases
      - Event and request management
      - Supplier Management
      - Service Measurement
- She has this idea that everyone is actually doing ITIL because v3 is based on v2. Personally I think this is a nice concept but don't believe this to be truly the case in reality.
- As with v2, Sharon stressed the importance of picking and choosing what is needed for your organisation and the benefits of an incremental approach to implementation.
- When asked about the v3 qualifications capability and lifecycle streams she advised that the syllabi are complete and going through checks for consistency between the streams. The sample exams are in pilot as part of QA and there will be a further pilot with accredited training providers, i.e. a way to go and will be some sonths before release.

Check back on Friday for my summary of Malcolm Fry's 'ITIL V3 Essentials and the Role of a CMDB' and Harvey Davison's 'What Should Configuration do for Change?'

Presenting with the 10/20/30 rule

2008-03-14T12:20:00.000Z

I've been a fan of Guy Kawasaki's blog for over a year but I didn't know about this being on You Tube until I saw it on another blog - Edith Yeung's Dream, Think, Act!

Pay attention if you don't want to cause death by powerpoint!

Another place to have your say...

2008-03-04T21:02:00.004Z

Where has the month gone? I must be getting old!

It looks like things are finally back on track with the itSMF International website. Unfortunately you have to sign up all over again which is mildly annoying. Whatever happened to integrated logins across the same organisational body? Oh, and not forgetting the other login for the forums!

That said, the forums do so far have some pretty good responses from the people in the know (aka Sharon Taylor) so it is worth signing up and keeping your eye on things.

In other news... the presentation last month went very well, objective achieved. I got some lovely compliments on both presentation style and content as well which is always nice. Now I'm musing as to how I can use the same techniques in my next presentation outing later this month.

Presenting with Pictures

2008-02-04T18:36:00.001Z

'A picture tells a thousand words', or so they say. I don't know about you but I am so tired of presentations that consist of powerpoint slides with bullet point text on them which the 'presenter' then goes on to read verbatim. What do we need the presenter for if they aren't going to add any value to the slides?

I saw a really good presentation at the itSMF conference (the only one I saw that wasn't of the above nature!) where the presenter used images to illustrate the story that he then told with the audience hanging onto every word. This is the sort of presentation I want to give!

Tomorrow I shall be attempting my first 'all picture' presentation which will force my audience to listen to what I'm saying as they won't have the luxury of reading about it on the screen. It's designed to simplify what is a complex topic so fingers crossed that I get my message across.

COBIT and ITILv3

2008-01-27T12:55:00.001Z

First of all a delayed Happy New Year. 2008 thus far has already had it's share of ups and downs and no doubt that shall continue for the remainder of the year!

For those of us interested in COBIT (Control OBjectives for Information and related Technology - an IT governance framework) and ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) as they relate to IT Service Management, it is good news to hear that the 'COBIT® Mapping: Mapping of ITIL v3 With COBIT® 4.1' will be published on the ISACA website before the end of the first quarter of 2008.

Are you a Zapper or a Sapper?

2007-12-17T18:25:00.000Z

I've seen a couple of recommendations for 'Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment' by William Byham with Jeff Cox and thought I'd give it a read (1999 2nd edition). Normally I dislike fable-style business books and prefer something with a little more meat to them. However, in this case, I am glad I made an exception. It's a very quick read and is as relevant today as it was back in the eighties. Much of the content is what we recognise as good common sense leadership and effective management - yet recognising it in our own workplaces is that bit harder.

One of the employees goes behind his supervisor's back and creates the 'Ralpholater' which transports he (and eventually his supervisor) to the 12th dimension which is a fantasy world version of the real world where fighting fires is really fighting the fires made by dragons, the manager is a huge green troll, etc. This appealed to the fantasy fan in me so I kept reading.

Using this contraption they identify two concepts: Zapp and Sapp.
The remainder of the book is spent figuring out what zapps, what sapps, how to zapp, and how to avoid sapping. The approach shows what is being done incorrectly then suggests an alternative approach to turn sapp into zapp. Useful at reinforcing those common sense messages.

Zapping is a 4 step process as follows:
1. Maintain or enhance self-esteem
2. Listen and respond with empathy
3. Share thoughts, feelings, and rationale
4. Ask for help and encourage involvement (Seek ideas, suggestions, and information)

These help you achieve the soul of zapp which is 'providing support without removing responsibility for action.'

The book goes on to reinforce the importance of support, feedback, coaching, and delegation. In many ways it made me think of the podcasts from Manager Tools which espouse the same key messages about changing behaviour to achieve results. Nip down to your local library or pick up a copy from Amazon - it's worth an evening of your time :)

Where next for transformational government?

2007-11-30T11:46:00.000Z

I've been re-reading some information on Transformational Government as it's now two years since the original strategy was published back in November 2005. Amongst implementation and progress papers I found a really interesting one in the Work Foundation's 'Public Services & ICT' series entitled: 'Where next for transformational government?' by Alexandra Jones and Laura Williams. It's dated September 2006 but the content is still very relevant to where I work over a year on. After giving some background it details the challenges that we continue to face:

Lack of link between project and organisation's key strategic priorities
Lack of clear senior management (and ministerial) ownership and leadership
Lack of effective stakeholder engagement
Lack of skills and proven approach to project and risk management
- Scope Creep
- Unrealistic Timescales
- Perfection tomorrow rather than compromise today
- Not enough attention paid to risk profiles
Lack of understanding of and contact with supply industry and senior levels
- Avoid over-design of the procurement specification
- Create genuine partnerships
- Be realistic about risk transfer
- More honesty from suppliers
Evaluation of proposals driven by initial price rather than long-term value
- Business benefits should be the real measure of success
- Not just time and cost
Too little attention to chunking project into manageable steps
- More projects need rigorous piloting
- Lack of Communication between policymakers and deliverers, and IT managers and senior managers
Inadequate resources and skills to deliver the total delivery portfolio

And conversely, it also highlights what makes a successful project (nothing really new here):

Clear and realistic business strategy with ICT as enabler
- Keep it simple
  - Simplify transactions
  - Incentivise cheaper options
  - Different solutions for different services
  - Design services around customers
  - Do a pilot
  - Have a safety net
Processes redesigned to be more effective
Leaders engaged in project and visibility committed to success
Change management strategy engaging staff
Investment in capacity of staff
Customer segmentation - Understanding different customer needs
Good relationships with suppliers
Risks identified and managed

The report finishes with 10 recommendations. I won't detail them here though, go and have a look for yourself. It's actually a really good report (unlike some I've read).

Do you see these challenges for you and your organisation (if you work in government anyway!)?

Chartered IT Professional? What do they know anyway?

2007-11-21T20:42:00.000Z

This is the question that the British Computer Society are seeking to answer. Are an IT professional and have thoughts on the charter mark for the IT profession? Or perhaps you are simply curious about the 'Body of Knowledge' that all Chartered IT Professionals will be expected to demonstrate.

Currently is is split into 'Knowledge and Understanding' and 'Skills'. They will structure into topics towards the end of the consultation to make it easier to navigate. I've started to add my penny worth... from what I can see so far it seems to be too detailed at all levels. However, I've only just skimmed the surface.

Head over to the website and have your say.

itSMF Conference, v3 Qualifications and News

2007-11-14T19:51:00.000Z

Well I've just returned from this year's itSMF conference '[R]evolution?'. I've mixed feelings about it this year as I felt that the quality of some of the seminars wasn't as high as last year. Perhaps I was unfortunate in my selection of which I chose to attend. That said, there were some excellent seminars and I shall endeavour to write my thoughts and share some useful nuggets from those in the coming weeks. As always, I'm sure it won't be long before the itSMF publish all the presentations on their website. Incidentally, we're supposed to be seeing a brand new design for their website launching at some point in Decemeber. About time too!

Today I just wanted to bring two things to your attention:

1. The ITIL v3 Qualification Scheme has been finalised (well, according to the website, but at the conference Rosemary Gurney did put in a little caveat). You can read the full qualification scheme information on the OGC's Best Management Practice website.

2. The final edition of the ITIL Refresh news is out (picked up a copy at the conference and now see it online).

That's all for the moment, more to come soon!

Dream, Think, Act!

2007-11-07T19:59:00.000Z

For awhile there I forgot that my blog is also about personal development but today I was reminded that there's more to life than IT Service Management (hard to believe, but there you have it!

I came across an inspirational blog, the content of which is consistent with the things I like at sites such as Manager Tools and Mind Tools, i.e. Clear, practical, effective advice for personal development. It's called 'Dream, Think, Act' by Edith Yeung.

Among the many posts that picqued my interest was one about PCS - Personal Credibility Score. Credibility is crucial to my personal brand, particularly in the workplace.

Her post covers the following key points:

First Impressions

Confident
Approachable
Articulated
Clean
Punctual
Authentic
Available
Passionate
Under Promise Over Deliver
Honesty

Maintaining Your Creditability

Consistent
Say No

Take 5 minutes to read the full article, you'll be glad you did!

ITIL Manager Bridge Delayed

2007-10-28T23:11:00.000Z

When you get out of the habit of something it's very easy to let things slide. Had a great holiday so now it's time to pick up the blog habit again. If anyone's still reading - thanks for sticking around!

This month the APMG has announced that the ITIL Manager Bridging v2-v3 Qualification will be delayed until next year due to an imbalance in the syllabus regarding coverage of certain topics.

They are also reviewing the Foundation v3 exam because training providers believe there is too much focus on Service Strategy and Continual Service Improvement.

I haven't got funding to do the bridging exam yet so chances are that I will do a different version of the exam to that some of my friends have completed.

ITIL v3 Launch Video

2007-08-14T23:22:00.000+01:00

If you didn't manage to attend the ITIL v3 launch in London and the presentations weren't enough for you, you can now view the morning and afternoon sessions on your pc. Thankfully there are bookmarks to skip to the sections that you may be interested in otherwise it's a seriously long slog!

Little v2 vs v3 presentation

2007-08-13T21:04:00.000+01:00

I came across a little presentation video today on the ILX website which I think nicely summarises (at a high level anyway) some of the differences between v2 and v3. If you don't have time to explain them to someone, just send them the link then let them ask you the question about the conversion points not adding up afterwards ;)

NOTE: This is in no way a recommendation for the ILX group or their products as I have no personal experience of them, I just like the presentation :)

ITIL v3 Launch Presentations

2007-06-29T19:05:00.001+01:00

Once again I must apologise for the lack of posts. I've not even had time to read my brand new ITIL v3 books. Off on holiday for a few weeks so I should come back refreshed and ready for blogging action!

In the meantime, the itSMF have published the slides that were presented by the ITIL v3 authors at the launch events. You can download them here.

ITIL Refresh v3 - Qualification Scheme

2007-06-05T20:54:00.000+01:00

Bruce: And what do points make?
The ITIL Imp: One small step for the individual up the career path for IT service management professionals! (Doesn't quite work does it? ;) )

Today I attended the ITIL v3 Launch in London and I promise to write up my thoughts on what was said and my 'concerns' regarding the deployment of the books and online service (Read: "I'm annoyed my books still have not arrived and my online access does not work!"). However, there is far too much to put into one blog entry so I'm kicking off with the area which particularly interests me - the qualification scheme.

Today the APMG released a press release regarding the proposed ITIL v3 Qualifications Structure. Sharon Taylor gave a half-hour presentation on this and for me personally it was the most worthwhile part of the day. She stressed that most of the structure (a modular points-based system) has not yet been signed off by the Qualifications Board so it IS all subject to change.

First of all, the proposed structure:
Everyone needs an ITIL Foundation in Service Management worth 2 points before progressing onto either:
- The lifecycle stream (built around each of the 5 core books. Each module is worth 3 points)
- or The capability stream (built around job roles - service portfolio & relationship management; service design & optimisation; service monitoring & control; and service operation & support. Each module is worth 4 points).

If you wish to progress (and it seems that as career-oriented service management professionals we are expected to want to) you will need to complete a 'Managing Through The Lifecycle' which will be designed as a 'normalisation' exercise to ensure that anyone who holds an IT Diploma has a baseline of knowledge. This qualification is worth 5 points but is not anticipated to be available until the end of this year.

It IS possible to mix and match modules from both the lifecycle and capability streams to achieve a total of 22 points which, on completion of the normalisation course, will automatically qualify you for the 'ITIL Diploma'. It wasn't stated what the process would be for actually claiming the ITIL Diploma but I expect this to be announced within a few months. It would be great if this were automated rather than the burden being on us to claim it. It also isn't clear whether there will be a published certification register as there is for Prince 2. If there were then I think they could automate sending diplomas out.

Beyond the ITIL Diploma will be an 'Advanced Service Management Professional Diploma'. It sounds like not much has really been done around this yet but reference was made to "tapping into other professional certifications". As you may have read I recently covered the BCS ISEB qualifications change as well as the new IT Professional Competency model. It sounded rather like this proposed qualification would align nicely with the 'ISEB Professional Level qualification'. Whether it does or not remains to be seen.

All that's very well, but how about those of us who have v2 qualifications. Is all the investment wasted? The answer is a firm "No". Sharon mentioned 2 types of bridging qualification: 1. Foundation 2. Managers. At this stage it seems it is not required for practitioners. This diagram summarises the routes from v2 to v3.

I think it is pretty self-explanatory except... are they really expecting those qualified to Manager's level to pay for a Foundation bridge AND a Manager's bridge? That doesn't make sense. Yet based on the points scheme if you don't then you end up short 1/2 point for the ITIL Diploma. By my calculations the Manager Bridge should be worth 5.5 points; am I correct or is my maths asleep on me?

My final word on qualification issues today is that of syllabi. There is now more guidance in these broken down by categories covering detailed learning objectives, section links to the core books, and even how long should be spent teaching those learning objectives.

No mention was made of if/when prometric exams will be available at all levels (or even just foundation). Sharon did stress that they are keen that a wider range of delivery mechanisms be used but it sounded to me like the burden is on the Exam Institutes and Accredited Training Providers to come up with these.

DISCLAIMER: As Sharon reiterated the above information is subject to change. As soon as I become aware of any such changes, I'll let you know.
Diagrams are (I think) copyright by APMG 2007 so I may get asked to remove them.

Sources:
Sharon Taylor presentation at the ITIL v3 Launch (London)
APMG Press Release

Women and the long hours culture

2007-06-02T17:53:00.000+01:00

Unfortunately I wasn't unable to attend the "Raising your profile for a successful career in IT" event hosted this week in London by WIT (Women In Technology) in association with Microsoft. If any of you did I'd be interested to here what you thought of it.

What interests me is one of the statistics from the survey carried out earlier this year which indicates that 75% of respondents felt their employers had a 'long hours' work culture. Apparently this is one of the factors discouraging women from working in technology and leaving it never to return. Personally I don't mind putting in the hours when it is needed. However I fully expected to be compensated for my time. Is the issue really the long hours, or is it about being adequately compensated to make up for time not spent with family? As a 30-something woman myself, I wonder if in a few years I'll be one of those statistics who want to work in technology but find it women-unfriendly.

Source articles:
Women In Technology
Computing

ITIL Refresh v3 - Complementary Guidance

2007-05-29T17:10:00.000+01:00

Apologies for the lack of posts this month. Suffice to say it's been a tough one and I'm back.

I last wrote about the changes to qualifications which I came by through a presentation from Sharon Taylor, Chief Architect of ITIL v3 hosted by Axios. I meant to follow up a little sooner for you on the other area that I thought particularly interesting - complementary guidance. If you're feeling cynical read: 'cash cow'.

Sharon gave an overview of the 'Complementary Portfolio' and reiterated quite strongly that it was not being written just by the OGC. The portfolio is to have the ITIL brand, be supported through formal research and be 'industry developed and owned. 'All stakeholders' (I wonder who defines a stakeholder in this case?) will have an opportunity to contribute content which must naturally support the core of ITIL v3. A phrase she used frequently was 'living library'. It appears that the new core material is expected to have a shelf life of about 5 years and that the complementary portfolio will help to ensure it stays fresh in the meantime.

As for the anticipated content of this living library; Sharon mentioned the following:

- Official study aids
- Case studies & templates
- Key element guides to replace the current pocket guides
- The book 'ITIL small scale implementation' is to be updated
- Industry specific guidance for public and private sectors
- Business sector specifics, e.g. Financial, Manufacturing, etc.
- Integrated Service Model to be published online including integrated process mapping (I wonder if this was inspired by the excellent Computer Associates Tube-style maps?)
- Available in multiple languages (apparently books are currently available in 17 languages and they are looking to expand upon this.
- Online content / books with supporting material around qualifications

She suggested that we will see the first additions to the living library in June 2007. I don't recall her saying exactly what this will be. However, I'd be personally very surprised if as a minimum it didn't include the study aids and online templates for download to those who take up the online subscription option.

Time will tell... just a week until the official launch!

ITIL Refresh v3 - Qualifications Update

2007-05-04T22:36:00.000+01:00

I attended a webinar hosted by Axios systems yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to hear some information direct from the horses's mouth (Chief Architect Sharon Taylor) that I had not heard previously. Today I will focus on the key qualification related points.

Existing qualifications will remain valid and recognised by each EI (Examination Institute). You should not end up in a situation where taking the Foundation exam with one EI does not qualify as the pre-requisite for the next stage of examination with another EI. v2 exams will be phased out at some point in 2008.

There will be 'Upgrade / Bridging' qualifications for those that wish to take them. As the v2 qualifications remain valid there is no requirement to upgrade.

Focusing on v3 qualifications Sharon provided an overview of the Global Panel of Examiners who are appointed by AMPG. The panel is responsible for setting competency standards and actively auditing the EIs and TPs (Training Providers). Membership of the panel includes:
Training providers
Trainers
Examiners
Universities
End Users

One of the key points Sharon made was the creation of a single-exam standard. All the EIs (currently ISEB, EXIN, APMG) will draw their questions from a single exam bank. It is hoped that this will help maintain the quality and consistency of the certifications.

Examinations will be available in multiple languages although no date was provided.

This is where it began to differ from what I have heard (and published here) previously. The progression through the exams in no longer the old 3 levels (which we knew already). What I didn't know is that they are changing to a 'career path' oriented system. There is a desire that ITSM be seen as a valid and worthwhile profession within the IT industry and it is hoped this may go some way to achieving this.

There will still be a foundation exam introducing the lifecycle approach. The first ITIL v3 Foundation exam will be available for sitting on 13th June 2007.

Following the foundation it sounds like there may be two streams of 'Intermediate learning'.
1. Service Management (aka Manager)
2. Service Capability (aka Practitioner)

To this end a modular system will be introduced. This will enable us to customise career paths to our own needs. Sharon said that there will be a phased delivery on examinations at these levels, no dates as yet.

The other major change is the approach to training itself. Instead of training being primarily the domain of the classroom there are going to be self-paced online e-learning courses and virtual classrooms. Exams will be available on demand and we are waving goodbye to the long handwritten 3 hour examinations (maybe I don't want to take the ITIL v2 manager's after all!).

Finally, ITIL v3 revision guides will form part of the complementary publications suite.

The title of her presentation was 'ITIL v3, The Future is Now.' I'm certainly encouraged by the changes (implementation of them remains to be seen of course). The future is just 25 days away!

ITIL Refresh v3 - Qualifications

2007-05-02T20:10:00.000+01:00

At the BCS SMSG Carol Hulm mentioned a possible 3 tier structure for ITIL v3 examinations. Today this has been confirmed in a statement from Richard Pharro of the APM Group.

The levels proposed are:

* Basic Level equating to V2 Foundation
* Management and Capability Level replacing the V2 Practitioner and Manager
* Advanced Level

Apparently this has been inspired by Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning where:
* Basic Level - assess knowledge and comprehension
* Management Level - assess comprehension and application
* Advanced Level - assess application and analysis

They have also confirmed that there will be 'upgrade' examinations for those already certified in ITIL v2.

The hope is that the foundation exam will be out shortly after the books as work on the examination questions is in progress. However, it is likely to be some time before the qualifications at management level are agreed and syllabus determined. I suspect that the advanced level may cover the entire lifecycle; I look forward to hearing what the examination panel decide.

BCS Service Management Specialist Group Event

2007-04-24T23:56:00.000+01:00

Apologies for the lack of posts last week. Just when I thought I had the habit as well!

Last Monday I went into London to an event run by the BCS Service Management Specialist Group as the title of the event piqued my interest: 'IT Service Management, ITIL, ISEB and the BCS '. The group does what it says on the tin. It gets together to discuss and share best practice in Service Management which is MORE than ITIL. Events are normally every month or so at the London BCS offices. If you are interested in joining visit the BCS SMSG website and let them know where you came from ;)

There were nine of us in attendance including the presenter Carol Hulm, Special Project Manager at the BCS.

The main topics of her presentation were:
- ISEB qualification framework evolution
- ITIL v3
- Book launch on 11th May of 'World Class IT Service Delivery' by Peter Wheatcroft
- IT Professionalism

Over the next few blog entries I will address coverage of each of these areas in turn. There were some great questions and answers particularly around ITIL examinations going forward and other ITSM offerings that ISEB may include going forward.

Before leaving I felt compelled to point out that the ProfIT website leaves a lot to be desired and that in my view the BCS professionalism pages were better. Hopefully this will be fed back and we may see some improvement (just call me an optimist!).

Mind Tools - Kickstart your career

2007-04-14T17:03:00.000+01:00

I've been a fan of the work that has been going on over a Mind Tools for many years now and when they launched their 'Career Excellence Club' I had to register to check it out and see whether it would be worth the monthly fee. After 6 months the answer in my view is 'yes'. Being a member gives you access to premium versions of the tools (problem solving, decision making, team leading, etc.), book insights, interviews, etc. The community forums are excellent as members support one another, stimulate new ideas, provide new slants on old ones, motivate one another, etc. It really is one of the best communities out there to my mind for anyone serious about taking a structured approach (or not) to personal development.

The monthly fee is worth it for the weekly Bite Sized Training booklets (usually around 15-20 pages) designed to be worked through within an hour's lunch break that take you through a tool in detail , e.g. providing feedback.

No, I'm not on commission - but perhaps I should be ;)

Girls and Women in ICT update

2007-04-10T21:39:00.000+01:00

It's almost a year since I posted about girls and women working in ICT. Not much seems to have changed in that time from my relatively uninvolved perspective, but things certainly haven't stood still.

It isn't only the UK that has a shortage of girls going into IT careers (we're comparably well off compared to some countries); the European Union are also doing their bit to try and encourage a change. I watched the shadowing video with interest but felt that it really didn't succeed in the way that I think the one over on e-skills UK does.

Speaking of e-skills, the CC4G (Computer Club for Girls) website has had a much needed makeover and there is now some improved content in the way of case studies and links to other sites as well as information for employers who may want to get involved.

Finally, I wanted to mention that from 6th - 8th June in Tunis there is an 'International Colloquium on Empowering Women in Engineering and Technology'. The programme looks quite interesting although I do wonder just how you become one of the 'selected women' :)

IT Profession Update

2007-04-06T21:35:00.000+01:00

It's been awhile since I posted about the work of the ProfIT Alliance (partly because things have been a little quiet on the public front). For those who have not heard of the alliance before it is formed of the BCS, e-skills UK, Intellect, and the NCC. They started working together with the primary of creating an IT Profession that is recognised as such in the way that accountants and surveyors are.

In the past week the e-skills sector council published the all new 'IT Profession Competency Model'. The fundamental idea is to recognise areas of specialism in which people can progress without necessarily having to move into management as is normally the case (certainly where I work). There are some staff who really deserve to be renumerated for their level of specialism and currently the only way to achieve this is to apply for a management role for which, in most of these cases, they are not suited. Providing options has got to be a good thing in my book.

For some background read the 'Validating the IT Professionalism Model' report and browse the 'Creating the IT Profession' section on the BCS website.

On Opportunity

2007-04-03T20:11:00.000+01:00

Warning: non-ITIL related reflective post today to match my mood!

What do you do when you are at a crossroads and there is no right or wrong choice, yet one potentially leads to the dark side of the force? How do you decide?

There are lots of useful tools over on Mind Tools to help you with decision making beyond the standard 'Pros vs Cons'.

In my case, today, I chose what I hope is the light. My tool of choice? My gut instinct. I've always been a believer in not simply grabbing opportunities as they arise, but CREATING opportunities for yourself. However, sometimes it is necessary to pass up an opportunity, even one a year in the making, to stay true to yourself. Although hard, remember those old chestnuts:

'Whilst one door closes, another is opening.'
'If opportunity doesn't exist; build a door ...'
'Learn to listen. Opportunity sometimes knocks very softly.' H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Today I go forward holding fast to the belief that:

'Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.'

I am preparing...

Management Experience more valuable than qualifications?

2007-03-27T23:45:00.000+01:00

According to a survey by the BCS, management experience is more important than qualifications in the IT sector. So why is it that so many job descriptions still state certain levels of qualifications as mandatory instead of desirable? It strikes me that there is a slight disconnect between what is being said and the reality in practice. However, maybe this is peculiar to local government.

There's a nice summary over on PublicTechnology.net and the actual survey results are published on the BCS website.
Addendum: BCS Article

In other news, I've mentioned the number of new online Mind Mapping tools that seem to be springing up of late. Chuck Frey over on Innovation Tools has done the hard work and put together a feature comparison of some of them. Personally, I'm still a Mindjet Mindmanager fan - the web versions just don't have the breadth of functionality I use... yet ;)

Overworked? Don't complain, do something about it!

2007-03-20T23:16:00.000Z

This is a short post because I'm working an awful lot of hours right now. Rather than complaining about my workload, over the past few months I have been taking steps to improve things by providing my line management with potential alternatives and encouraging them to prioritise work rather than expecting me to deliver on everything. I have to keep reminding myself it is not physically possible if I want to actually have a life. Today I came across an article on CIO.com ('How to talk to your boss about being overworked') which reiterated the same approach I've been taking and thought I'd share it with some of you who may be in the same boat.

Service Catalogues - have you got yours?

2007-03-16T21:16:00.000Z

Those who have already been down the ITIL path recognise the benefits that creating, publishing, maintaining, and promoting a service catalogue can bring. The most cited according to attendees of the 3rd world Service Catalogue conference is that it helps you to manage your user expectations. It's impossible to deliver a service if your user expectations are higher than your caapcity to deliver. The visibility that a catalogue brings to IT services becomes the first line of defense preventing some of those calls to the service desk where the operators have to deliver surprises to users such as 'Sorry, that is outside our remit' or 'that will cost X'.

Increasingly, there is help at hand when it comes to creating these.
New Scale have been in the ITSM press a lot as they spotted the niche and become market leaders in Service Catalogue management software.

The nice thing about them is that they are willing to share their knowledge to further the cause, rather than holding on to it. Although it is still in early days, I think that the Open Source Community for Service Catalogues could become a really useful resource. Do check it out, and if you have experience of creating a service catalogue, share your story!

Another useful resource for those starting out is the SLA Catalog Toolkit by Musab Qureshi.

Finally I wanted to draw your attention to a book: Defining Success through the IT Service Catalog (read sample | Buy now).

Crucial Conversations - buy it, read it, do it!

2007-03-13T19:40:00.000Z

Given the publication date of 2002 I'm late to the fold on this one, but I found reference to 'Crucial Conversations: Tools for talking when stakes are high' whilst reading a report called 'Silence Fails: The Five Crucial Conversations for Flawless Execution' and thought it would be worth a read. It was.

Fundamentally the book teaches you how to:
1. Recognise a crucial conversation - "A discussion between two or more people where stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong." (Get Unstuck)
2. How to analyse what is happening (Start with the Heart, Learn to look)
3. What to do about it (Make it Safe, Master my Stories, STATE My Path, Explore Others' Paths, Move To Action)
This is then summarised as a visual 'dialogue model' at the end of the book (which makes much more sense if you've actually read the book first!).

The style of the authors is an easy going conversational one which makes for quick reading. However, it's one of those books that you absolutely have to absorb, practice, go back and re-read, practice, etc. There are also supplementary materials (videos, self-assessment questionnaires, group questions) available on the vitalsmarts website if you register.

Much of what they say resonates for me with that which Mark and Mike teaching over on the Manager Tools podcast series.

If, like me, sometimes you get in a mess in a crucial conversation - then get this book and practice what it preaches. I certainly will.

ITIL Refresh v3 - Pricing

2007-03-09T10:42:00.000Z

[rant on]
I've been silently fuming about this to myself and figured I might as well share my views. I don't know what the justification is for the pricing scheme that the TSO have come up with is, but I sincerely believe it isn't geared to its entire customer base.

The price of each book is expensive enough, but why should we be paying more for an electronic copy? Surely any additional publishing and distribution costs involved with selling these doesn't justify the extra money you have to pay (i.e. VAT - so why not lower the cost of each unit?)

Furthermore, although I like the idea of an annual subscription; why on earth would I pay more than the cost of a hard copy to have access to it for only 1 year? I mean, really! At the end of the year am I seriously going to fork out another £300 pounds? I think not.

Of course, I'm writing this from the viewpoint of the individual person who is is interested in practicing ITIL within the workplace. For consultants who make their living this way, it's probably a reasonable sum to pay; likewise for organisations.
For the individual - it's simply just too expensive. I've tried explaining to my other half that it's a good investment for me, but when £300 can buy a rather nice new graphics card... you see my point?
[/rant over]

Silence Fails and Crucial Conversations

2007-03-06T23:44:00.000Z

I recently came across a fascinating report called 'Silence Fails: The Five Crucial Conversations for Flawless Execution' . If you involved in projects at all, be it as a team member, a project sponsor, project manager or otherwise, I highly recommend that you register and download a copy of the report. To summarise those 5 crucial conversations:

Problem 1: AWOL Sponsors. 65% of project leaders work regularly with sponsors who fail to give the required support, leaving projects stranded and exposed.
Conversation: Project sponsors must communicate, providing leadership and political support.

Problem 2: Fact-free planning. 85% of project leaders are given parameters such as deliverables, budgets and timelines with no opportunity for input.
Conversation: Project leaders must be involved in the earliest stages of planning.

Problem 3: Skirting. 83% of project leaders say their effectiveness is undermined by powerful stakeholders and managers who attempt to skirt decision-making, planning and prioritization processes.
Conversation: Project managers have to stand up and maintain project discipline.

Problem 4: Concealing risk. 50% or more of project managers say team members regularly fail to honestly report project risks. As a result, the team loses opportunities to respond with revised goals, shifted resources or reorganized plans.
Conversation: Team members must be encouraged to speak up.

Problem 5: Team failures. 80% of project leaders are hobbled by direct reports who don't show up to meetings or fail to meet schedules or goals.
Conversation: Project leaders must insist on picking their teams, and they must confront inadequate performers.

I've ordered the book Crucial Conversations and will post my thoughts on it once I get around to reading it (doing a great job of adding to instead of reducing my reading pile right now!).

Mind Mapping - web service on demand?

2007-02-28T23:34:00.000Z

I've not written about one of my favourite techniques (and software which is Mindjet's Mind Manager Pro v6) in a long time. Increasingly my handwritten notes are multicoloured spidery diagrams that mean something to me but very little to anyone else. However, the phenomenon of what we call 'mind mapping tools' (which Tony Buzan would most likely say are not mind mapping in the true sense but simply computerised information organising tools) has thus far really remained the domain of desktop software publishers such as Mindjet, MindGenius, et al.

Enter on the scene a new boy in town, 'Mindomo' (currently in beta). A flash-based web service which requires NO installation whatsoever (unless you don't already have flash in which case the applet would be the minimum install and that hardly counts), I can see that there is a market for it. You can set up an account for free and all data is stored on their servers. If you wish, there are pay-for-the-service options with added features. After a quick play with it, I'd say it is fine for those who wish to create the occasional mind map, but for those using it every day for project work, etc. I still prefer a desktop based version. It does include a feature to import mindmaps from Mindjet's Mind Manager, but this is limited to content rather than format, e.g. I lost coloured lines, pictures, and map markers. Small maps imported were very quick, but my larger project related maps just went on for what felt like forever so I gave up.

In conclusion, for those new to computerised mind mapping tools, it's a great no-hassle way to try it out. I, however, still recommend that you go and download the 30 day trial from Mindjet due to the extra functionality it gives you.

P.S. Thanks to Nick Duffill of Beyond Crayons for bringing this to my attention.

Where is that process anyway?

2007-02-20T20:30:00.000Z

The question on a lot of people's lips now that the publication date for ITIL v3 has been announced is 'Which book do I need to buy if I am interested in ?' At £85 each, you don't want to buy the wrong one.

As yet, there is no definitive answer in the public domain and I am keen that the authors should put us out of our misery. Until such time I'm trying to compile a list of which v2 processes exist where. For some of the processes, although they primarily align with one book, elements of the process may appear throughout other books as and when they occur during the service life cycle. I've also noted some of the new processes that were mentioned at the itSMF conference.

Service Strategy
Service Level Management - elements become Service Portfolio Management
Financial Management for IT Services
Business Relationship Management

Service Design
Service Level Management
Capacity Management
Availability Management
IT Service Continuity Management
IT Security Management element of becomes Information Security Management
Supplier Management

Service Transition
Change Management
Configuration Management (will include service assets)
Release Management
  (to be split into separate processes:
    Service Release Planning
    Performance and Risk Evaluation
    Testing
    Acquire Assets, Build and Test Release
    Service Release Acceptance Test and Pilot
    Deployment, Decommission and Transfer)
NEW: Knowledge Management

Service Operation
Incident Management
Problem Management
NEW: Event Management
NEW:Request Fulfillment
NEW:Access Management

Continual Service Improvement
Service Reporting and Measurement (maybe broken down into sub-processes and include elements of SLM)

If you know any different to the list above, please drop me a line! NOTE: I saw that in the ITIL Refresh 2nd editions it said change was in Service Operation, but I recall them saying it was going to be in Service Transition - who knows the truth?

ITIL v3 release date confirmed!

2007-02-16T21:04:00.000Z

Well it's official. The core titles of the ITIL v3 Refresh are to be published on 30th May 2007 (english only, other languages to come later), orders can be placed as of 21st February 2007.

There will be a number of ways to get your hands on a copy of the new material. For traditionalists there is the hard copy, or for those that prefer the books will be available as PDFs. Both at a price £85 (compared to the current £65 standard) but if you buy all 5 you can get them at £299 (saving of £126 - which even for individuals begs the question as to why you'd buy them any other way...)

They will also be offering an Online Annual Subscription which is quoted as £265.

NOTE: Electronic copies are not VAT zero-rated so the PDF ends up costing you a lot more money (VAT @ 17.5%), is it worth it - the jury is out on this one.

Also available will be a new 'Introduction to ITIL' book covering the introduction to the lifecycle approach etc. priced at £30.

There is also mention made of an official ITIL Portal which sounds like a cross between current forums and the Pink Elephant Atlas offering.

For more details (including the official word on some thoughts I've aired in recent months), check out the 2nd edition of the ITIL Refresh newsletter.

Fox IT join the podcast revolution

2007-02-12T20:42:00.000Z

Awhile ago I commented upon the PinkCast series from Pink Elephant which tend to take an issue and give a mini-training session in ideas as to how to resolve it.

Another training/consultancy provider (and the one I took my foundation certificate with awhile back) Fox IT has also realised the benefit of joining the podcast revolution and already have five in the series (approx 5-7 mins each). Thus far topics are an explanation of current concepts but more of a marketing vehicle to learn about how they can help you rather than providing much real value from the cast itself - but I'm hopeful that this may change. So far topics include:

The ITIL Refresh, training and qualifications

Software as a Service (SaaS)

The ISO/IEC 20000 Standard

ITIL Refresh with Vernon Lloyd (one of the ITIL v3 authors)

What is IT Governance?

If any of those appeal, go and have a listen.

Shared Services - Outsourcing by Insourcing?

2007-02-07T21:09:00.000Z

As I work in local government I found the article about shared services over on CIO Update an interesting read.

There is a great drive from central government encouraging working in partnership with other organisations and this is something that is very much happening where I work (and has been for the past three years). In particular we have been developing shared services around ICT and other areas.

The article pinpoints some key success criteria that need to be in place to make such partnership working to create shared services a reality. In particular the need to put sufficient time and money in up front, in order to see the financial gains later. When this (on the face of it) appears to be in conflict with Gershon's efficiency saving agenda it highlights what a hard job local government have of getting the balance right.

Which end of the seesaw are you? For us, I see ourselves having learned lessons the hard way and slowly bringing things into balance.

Introducing ITIL - first steps

2007-01-31T14:42:00.000Z

I recently came across a rather nice summary 'The ABCs of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL)' by Lynn Greiner on CIO.com. Normally when people ask me about ITIL I usually follow up with a PDF of the booklet 'Introductory Overview of ITIL' available free of charge from the itSMF site. In the future I'll also be including a link to this article as well.

APMG agreement with ISEB and EXIN!

2007-01-29T13:56:00.000Z

We've all been wondering about the status of EXIN and ISEB since APMG came onto the scene, and it seems we're finally getting a little clarification. Check out the article on ITSM Portal for the latest (and also see the original press release).

I was wondering what this meant, if anything, for the ISEB when I read another take on things over at the itSMF.

Press releases:
APMG
EXIN

More on APMG and Accreditation

2007-01-13T23:17:00.000Z

If you haven't already, stop by the ITSM portal today for some breaking news regarding the APMG and training accreditation.

Also read the article regarding a hypothetical impact that the UK government's transformational strategy when it comes to information sharing may have on ITIL and Prince 2.

APMG and Approved ITIL Trainers

2007-01-09T21:19:00.000Z

I came across a post that drew my attention to the new criteria from APMG for people to be "Approved trainers". It may be that I'm misinterpreting what is written - but from the looks of it to train someone at Practitioner level you have to have qualified at that level to 70% or over yourself. Having a distinction at Manager's Certificate level apparently doesn't cut it. I don't know who thought that one up but I don't much care for it and I'm not an ITIL trainer!

ITIL Refresh v3 - Public QA

2007-01-05T20:26:00.000Z

It's official. The selection for public QA reviewers has taken place and the review is scheduled to start on 8th January and finish on 22nd January. It reassures me that we may indeed see the published core books by the end of spring as promised.

I noticed an article on the BCS website about the IT departments in motor insurance companies using ITIL to streamline their operations. The thing that struck me was the comment about the 'need' to reorganise the department into 2 streams - support and delivery. ITIL v2 does not actually state there is a need to do this. I know the ITIL v3 authors have stated they will address the structure of IT departments and I am curious to see what the results of this will be. Especially given we are due to undergo a restructure where I work anyway due to partnership working. It would be nice if we could kill two birds with one stone as it were! *waits impatiently for v3*

Also of interest may be the article about FITS (Framework for ICT Technical Support Operations Management). British Educational Communications and Technology Agency's (Becta) answer to ITIL for educational establishments. I think I've blogged about it before as it's a really great resource for templates.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T17:38:00.000Z

I hope you all enjoyed the holidays (for those of you that got some time off) and I wish you all the best in 2007 both at work and at play.

It should be an interesting year for IT Service Management. Will ITIL under APMG fall into disrepute? Will more companies look towards attaining ISO20000 accreditation? Who will fill the rather large footprints left behind at itSMF by Aiden Lawes? Will I get funding for my manager's certificate before the ITIL v3 examinations are ready?

All this and more to come in 2007 ;)

itSMF Conference 'Theory into Practice'

2006-12-18T22:22:00.000Z

I've been meaning to post my thoughts on the itSMF conference and I still intend to do so. However, if you weren't able to attend and can't wait for my write-ups of the seminars that I attended, you can download the presentations from the itSMF website.

On another topic - I'm revisiting some time management techniques as I don't think I'm handling my current workload in the most effective manner. I'm quite keen on GTD (Getting Things Done) but haven't really given it a fair go as yet. I'm about to read 'The Now Habit' by Neil Fiore as I hear it's good for help with prioritisation. If you've got any tips that work for you I'd be interested to hear them.

To charge or not to charge?

2006-12-06T20:44:00.000Z

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Barry Corless who, if you hadn't heard, was recently appointed as the Chief Examiner for APMG's ITIL v2 examination board when they take over at the start of January (see here for more). I didn't actually click that it was him until later on so failed to congratulate him on the appointment, so here you go Barry: "Congratulations!".

Anyhow, today I attended the itSMF seminar day on 'Financial Management - The Chamber of Secrets'. I have an interest (partly from personal background but also from some financial related work I've had to do in the past 2 years) in how you go about recharging services as an internal within a non-profit making organisation and some of the presentations did clarify a few things for me.

In particular I found it interesting that one organisation introduced FMITS (Financial Management for IT Services) as part of an organisational wide change by creating what they called an 'internal market'. They went as far as devolving the financial accountants functions INTO the business units themselves. So ICT had a partially dedicated financial support resource to help them.

Another presentation reiterated how important it is that a qualified accountant be involved in the process from the start. What I'm wondering in my case is could we justify (in a year or two) the creation of a post of an IT Financial Manager. Given the nature of working in partnership with other councils I personally think it's a must to ensure accountability and transparency for audit. Time will tell...

There was quite a lot said about the 'why', the benefits, and some excellent case studies highlighting not just what works well, but what doesn't. The 'how' was really only covered thoroughly by a couple of the speakers and they provided some really useful techniques and templates.

It was also very clear that implementing FMITS is far easier if you already have service level management in place (service catalogue as a bare minimum), and reasonably mature incident, problem, change, and configuration management processes. This much I'd expected. What I hadn't really appreciated was just how much of an input Capacity Management has into FMITS, even if it's not very mature and just a few key metrics. If I'd been in any doubt Mr McMenemy certainly drove that point home!

At some point in the future I'll type up all my notes and share them with you all. Until then, keep an eye on the itSMF UK website as I'm sure they'll be uploading the presentation slides there shortly.

I had been hoping that it would also cover how to financially show the ROI of projects that deliver efficiency savings, but this wasn't to be. If anyone has done any work in this area I'd love to hear from you!

ITIL Refresh v3 - Newsletter

2006-11-23T20:10:00.000Z

I've been somewhat busy since I returned from the itSMF conference so haven't yet shared what I learned and summarised the experience. I'm aiming to make a start on that this weekend.

In the interim, you may have heard that the TSO published an ITIL Refresh Newsletter which answers some of the questions posed here and from others in the service management community.

I'm happy to say that itSMF international are hosting a copy of the newsletter as a PDF on their site. It's well worth the read.

BCS-ISEB and EXIN and IT Service Management

2006-11-15T23:25:00.000Z

Well, I'm back from the itSMF conference 2006 'Theory into Practice' and over the coming weeks I will share the key learning points (and other things of interest) I have taken away from it.

Back in July I drew attention to an announcement from ISEB and EXIN regarding their commitment to ITIL.

On 1st November 2006 they signed an agreement to work together to further the continual improvement of IT Service Management and all that entails, rather than being restricted to ITIL (which is after all but one framework focusing on the operational amongst many spanning the strategic and governance as well). Personally I think this can only be a good thing for the future of IT service management and I look forward to seeing how things develop.

For a fuller editorial regarding the alliance, check out this post on ITSM Portal.

itSMF and TSO - Good news?

2006-11-11T13:24:00.000Z

I came across a statement on the itSMF news site stating:

TSO, the document and publishing services provider and itSMF International (itSMFI), the global authority for IT Service Management, have reached an agreement that paves the way for TSO and itSMFI to work in partnership to deliver the supporting material around the refreshed ITIL guidance, due to be published in Spring 2007.

The agreement, which it is planned to formally sign at the itSMF UK Conference and Exhibition during the week of 13th November, recognises itSMFI’s extensive contribution over the last 15 years to the development and promotion of ITIL - a role it will continue to fulfil – and TSO’s position as OGC’s official publisher of the ITIL material.

My immediate question is "how do they define 'supporting material'?". I suspect they mean everything but the core books. Hopefully I'll get an answer to this question at the itSMF conference this week.

Incidentally, as I shall be attending the conference from Monday to Wednesday there shall be no blog entry until next Friday. I shall be covering off the seminars with an ITIL guru and hopefully between us we can feedback about the conference reasonably fully. See you when I return!

E-mails - distraction or effective tool?

2006-11-07T23:22:00.000Z

I don't know about you, but I suffer from e-mail distraction. I find it hard to restrict myself to checking for new mail at one point in the morning, and another in the afternoon; especially if I'm expecting a response to something 'important' - so I leave the notification alert turned on (a time-management no-no).

Today's post is about the effective use of e-mail. All too often it is easy for us to send an e-mail which in some cases can be used to avoid potentially uncomfortable situations (so it becomes a safety blanket), to be more informal and say something that you perhaps might not say to some one's face, etc. These aren't good reasons and they are not as effective in terms of building and maintaining relationships with people as face-to-fact contact is. Over the past year I've made a conscious effort to send less (and more concise) e-mails and increase face-to-face/phone contact. Without question I have developed working relationships that are better for it.

For example, a colleague sent an e-mail asking who could attend a work social evening and received just a handful of replies. However, when they got up from their desk and spoke one-on-one with people, they were willing to say, 'Yes, I'll come along'.

With people copying all and sundry on e-mails, we suffer from e-mail overload and it is very easy to scan something and intend to deal with it later. If someone is face to face (or even on the telephone) it is frequently easier to get a result, i.e. more effective.

So next time you send an e-mail, stop, think, and get off your chair or pick up the phone. Try making e-mail the last thing instead of the first, the results may just surprise you.

If you have a few minutes, take a look at the following resources:

E-mail round up by Particle Tree

Manager Tools Podcast if you manage your own e-mail

Manager Tools Podcast if you have an admin managing your e-mail

Pick up a copy of 'Getting Things Done' by Dave Allen, if you can get the habit then it will make quite the difference. For reference, I've got a long way to go!

ITIL Refresh v3 - Update

2006-11-02T20:52:00.000Z

Things seem to be moving along on the ITIL Refresh v3 front according to a communication published on the OGC ITIL website.

All five core titles were delivered by the author teams by mid-October. Since then the Editorial Board has reviewed the books and carried out work to ensure integration and alignment across all titles. IAG members have been asked to nominate their preferred title to review. The review will start on 7 November and end on 27 November after which there will be a period for further integration work and editing, and for authors to make revisions. Public QA is scheduled for mid-January and a call for participants will be made imminently.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about the ITIL refresh at the itSMF 'Theory into Practice' conference from the 13th-15th November. Rest assured that I will be posting my thoughts on what I hear shortly after I return.

ITIL and the new qualification scheme

2006-10-27T20:59:00.000+01:00

As regulars amongst you will know, I have some concerns regarding the future of the ITIL qualification scheme under APMG. The OGC have published a statement outlining the operation and ITSM portal have translated this into a diagram for easy comprehension. I'm still not sure what this means for itSMF, ISEB, or EXIN - but apparently patience is a virtue ;)

Unresolved Help Desk Calls + Motivation = Change? (part 4)

2006-10-23T16:34:00.000+01:00

This is the final part (for now) in my mini-series on motivating a team to resolve help desk calls when they have lots of other (to them more interesting) work to be doing as well.

After the meeting back in the office, I set the jars up and got back to work. In the background I heard a lot of people on the telephone, and wait, someone taking a sweet already AND putting it in the Eat Me jar for everyone? Curious, I had a chat with my colleague and it turns out that they are concerned about their teeth. Yet, the scheme still works for them because as more sweets arrive in the Eat Me jar; it's a visible representation of how many calls they are resolving. An unexpected benefit because I was convinced that everyone would be selfish and eat their sweets unless there wasn't one they liked left in the jar!

Turning my attention to another colleague who had missed the meeting, I quickly explained that when they resolve a call they can take a sweet and eat it or put it in the jar. Their response: "I don't do gimmicks." I said that was fair enough. Later on they raised the point that if they didn't join in the numbers would be wrong; so I explained the sweetie stock take on Friday's in my own time after work which may or may not have had an effect. I figured it would take about a week for them to come around. I was wrong. After lunch, they got up and headed to the jars... there had been so much banter in the office about the sweets and who has done what and which sweet was taken, I think perhaps they didn't want to feel left out. I love it when a plan comes together!

A week on...the overall backlog has decreased by 40 calls (of course there are other factors that contribute to this such as less staff on holiday, less calls being logged during the week etc.)

Two weeks on...the overall backlog has increased again due in part to an unusually high number of calls being logged, staff out on training courses, and others on holiday.

Staff are using the jars, albeit in different ways. Some continue to use them as intended; others prefer to keep a note of how many calls they are resolving throughout the working day and take their sweets out of the jars at the end of the day. The key thing that this scheme has achieved is an interest in HOW we are performing which was previously low to lacking.

The next stage to enhance this will be some 'no cost to the council' way of rewarding staff for calls resolved within time on a monthly basis.

Unresolved Help Desk Calls + Motivation = Change? (part 3)

2006-10-13T23:16:00.000+01:00

I agreed with the team leaders to present the idea at a team briefing. With the date set, the night before I ran the help desk report to show the number of outstanding calls on each work queue and spent part of my evening counting out and dividing hundreds of sweets into the various jars (each representing one work queue).

As I was doing this, I realised that although the jars are needed for operational purposes, it did detract somewhat from the shock factor of a huge pile of sweets. I've learned from Spendaholics (TV show) and John Kotter's 'The Heart of Change' that the tangible shock factor is all important to evoke the feeling which would hopefully lead to the change (I know he was talking about large organisational change, but I figure it could work for us too on a small scale).

So, I delved into the sweetie stockpile and started out counting sweets again equal to the number of outstanding calls. These I divided into plastic bags.

The next morning arrived, and I went in early to prepare the room. Jars laid out on a table and covered out of sight, the sweetie pile bags also hidden away, last months calls resolved within time stats and this month to date written on a white board, and another white board with numbers from 100-500 on it.

Once everyone had arrived I outlined the current situation regarding the increasing backlog with help desk calls and the people resources available. Next I turned to the whiteboard with the numbers 100-500 on it and asked everyone for their guess as to the number of outstanding calls. This led to a nice bit of banter whilst everyone submitted their thoughts which ranged from just over 300 to over 700! A nice indication that no one really knew. I circled those that came closest to the actual number and wrote it on the board for all to see (slight pause for it to sink in).

Next I said that at the end of the day it's just a number, and it's hard to grasp what that really means. At which point I delved into my shopping bag and pulled out first one plastic bag and handed it to a colleague to tip out into the middle of the table (I should say that we were all sat around a circular table which left a perfect circle in the middle for this exercise). The grins started to appear, and one person leaped ahead and said, "Oh, I bet we get a sweet for each call we close!" I grinned and handed out another bag. "I bet there's a hundred in each bag..." they said. Smiling, I handed out more bags to different people so about half of the team were hands-on.

When all the sweets were on the table, I stated the outstanding call number again and that each sweet didn't represent a call, but it represented someone waiting on us to complete their call (a slight mental shift as I was trying to encourage the customer-focused way of thinking).

As hands began to rummage through the sweets to see what was there I talked a bit about the process, then revealed the jars and went through each one showing the number of calls outstanding for that queue. This seemed to further reinforce the shock factor as in one case multiple people didn't realise there were any calls on one queue at all!

I fielded a number of questions, one of which was, "Is the council paying for this?" The answer was "No." In discussion with the team leaders we had agreed to split the initial and ongoing sweet cost 3 ways (I'm happy to pay for the jars as it was my idea, and if it fails then I get something out of it anyway). There was a split-second of silence as people took this in, then a number said "Thank you for doing this." I'm hoping that because we are willing to invest personal money and time, everyone will be that much more inclined to make the idea work.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised that everyone present was smiling and up for the idea. I'd been prepared for the cynics. However, the real test would be when we were back in the office. Find out what happens in part 4 next Tuesday as that will mark 1 week of the new initiative.

Unresolved Help Desk Calls + Motivation = Change? (part 2)

2006-10-10T23:39:00.001+01:00

Following on from yesterday and my revelation...

My colleagues needed to SEE the backlog. A long list or number on a report just doesn't cut it. I needed something tangible; something to shock; something that could inspire change... and ooh, something that might be motivating in and of itself.

Enter: sweets. Hundreds of them!

The 3-step process I came up with works like this:
1. Allocate a sweetie jar for each work queue with each sweet in the jar representing someone who is waiting on us to complete their incident/service request.
2. When someone resolves a call, they get to take a sweet from the correct queue jar and either eat it, or put it into the shared 'Eat Me! (available sweets) jar.
3. After work each Friday I take on the role of 'sweetie monitor' and top up each jar with the new calls for the week and check the count of each jar to ensure people are taking their sweets/not taking too many!

The following day I sounded out the IT team leaders and was pleasantly surprised to find that neither of them laughed at me. They actually leaned back and said, "That could work..." So, with the authorisation to go ahead I went shopping!

I made sure that I purchased a wide range of sweets with wrappers so they could withstand the rummaging, as well as checking best before dates because some of our calls have been outstanding for a rather long time.

Finding the right style of sweetie jar took a little effort but I found some and had to wait for a week whilst they ordered more to make up the numbers I needed.

With the jars and sweetie stock at the ready, I had to figure out how to present the idea to the team in such a way that they'd support it instead of dismissing it as 'one of her crazy schemes'. I'll save this part for Friday's entry. See you then.

Unresolved Help Desk Calls + Motivation = Change? (part 1)

2006-10-10T17:52:00.002+01:00

No, I've not gone mad (always been that way)... Today I wanted to write about an idea I had that has today moved from theory into practice.

A little background. We don't have enough staff working in the IT department at my council. We're constantly wrestling with trying to balance project work, helpdesk calls, systems maintenance, and other corporate administrative duties that we may have. Since Gershon's Efficiency Review people (i.e. senior management) have looked to save money from all areas INCLUDING IT, instead of recognising that IT requires investment to help alleviate issues in other areas; but now I am digressing... back to prioritisation. It's tough. When the balance is tipped and you get to a stage where most of the help desk calls have breached the internally accepted SLA priority and the backlog is increasing instead of decreasing, it inevitably leads to a pretty demotivated team.

So... the big question that needed to be answered - what could I do in my non-management capacity to improve things for users, my colleagues, and myself? I should add a small proviso: 'given the restricted resources available'.

I don't know if any of you have seen Spendaholics or Supernanny on TV recently - but I watch them both with interest as I find them excellent lessons in the people side of change management (something I'm keen to develop). (Unlike, I might add, 'How Clean is your House' which I watch to reassure myself that I do some housework ;) ) One night, whilst drifting off to sleep, the solution hit me... slap bang in the forehead.

To find out what hit me in the forehead, see me tomorrow!

ITIL Refresh v3 - Update

2006-10-06T00:49:00.000+01:00

Very quickly for those of you who may not have seen it yet, the OGC have published another statement about the Commercial Activities Recompetition (CAR) project, this time focusing on the potential impact on examinations which I've certainly expressed concerns about in a previous entry.

This new statement isn't particularly reassuring to me given that my employer is looking to implement ITIL in the new year (funding permitting). In which case, is it appropriate to go ahead and send people on training courses which will be accredited by a board who may be redundant by July 2007 (unless ISEB and EXIN become Examination Institutes (EIs) licenced by APMG)? Not to mention the refresh itself which I'm sure would mean an opportunity for training providers to run update courses to increase their income. Not good for our small government training budgets.

There's some interesting points raised by the editor over at ITSM Portal.

I do wonder whether APMG will bring ITIL examinations (and consequently those with the qualifications) more credibility or whether it will stifle the community that helps it grow. Only time will tell...

ISEB upgrade their qualification framework

2006-09-28T22:39:00.000+01:00

I´m on holiday at the moment, so apologies for the lack of posts. They´ll commence again from Tuesday 3rd October.

I heard something at a conference a few months ago about the need to upgrade the BCS ISEB IT qualifications framework to support the acceptance of IT as a profession in the truest sense of the word.

On page 21 of this month´s IT Now magazine there is a short explanation of the changes. It aligns other qualifications along the Foundation / Practitionar / Manager´s theme for certifications that we are already familiar with for ITIL. You can download the new ISEB Framework from their website.

The 7 Sources Of Problems

2006-09-19T20:05:00.000+01:00

I imagine that many of the ITIL readers out there are familiar with Dr ITIL. Some of you may even recall a series he wrote regarding the 7 sources of problems. I found it so useful that I diligently saved the articles to my hard disc for future reference; so when I found out about his first e-book 'The S7ven Sources of Problems: How to eliminate problems before they impact your business' I found myself wondering why I should pay for content that was already out there on the internet. That was until I read it!

The e-book goes far beyond the previous articles; a total of 66 pages. Diagrams are kept to a minimum, the majority of the book is content, content, content. It neatly distills not just what the 7 sources of problems are; but importantly HOW to mitigate and in some cases completely eliminate them. I find the writing style no-nonsense and conversational which makes for an easy read. Admittedly much of what he writes may be common sense to some people; but sometimes you need someone to remind you of what you already know; let alone point out the things you don't know.

In my view this should be mandatory reading for not just problem process owners everywhere, but anyone involved in project or change management, in fact include anyone supporting the IT environment and frustrated with the constant fire-fighting.

Start your journey of problem elimination by opening the door with the golden key (nudge, nudge, wink, wink!).

Need help to pass the foundation exam?

2006-09-17T14:34:00.000+01:00

I recently came across a podcast 'Top Tips for Taking the ITIL Foundation Exam' from ILX Training and finally made time to listen to it today. It wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be and the bulk of the helpful tips were in the final 10 minutes of the cast.

The advice is primarily directed towards those who are taking the exam following a classroom based training course, and is not hugely useful for those who are going the self-study route.

So... to summarise for those of you who don't have 30 minutes to listen to the cast:

Before the exam:

There is no need to read up on ITIL prior to going on a formal training course. Everything you need should be provided on the course.
Classroom based training courses will have official mock papers for you to practice.
The ITIL Foundation Exam consists of 40 multiple choice questions to be answered in 1 hour.
Need a minimum of 26 correct answers, the pass rate is perhaps 95% in this trainer's experience.
The majority of questions are regarding the process itself.
Only a few questions will ask about people (mainly on service desk) and technology.
Ask your trainer questions, do not be embarrased. Chances are other people want to know the answer as well.
Leave your preconceptions at home. The exam is on ITIL and not how you do things at work.
Remember that even if you do something differently and think it is wrong, forget the 'I think...'. Answers must be 'ITIL'.
Don't think you know everything about a process because it is similar to what you do at work. There may be new terminology, or the same terminology with different definitions.
Learn the abbrieviations and acronyms and where they are used in each process. Think of it as learning a new language.

If taking the exam in a class based environment there will be an invigilator from EXIN or ISEB. They user generic exam forms.

Scribble answers on the actual exam question paper.
Only when you are finished should you mark answers on the generic exam form.
Mark answers in pencil.
Be very careful if you erase an incorrect answer as the computer may read it as a separate mark and void the entire line.
ITIL papers normally only have 4 possible answers: A, B, C, D. The generic form includes a fifth option, E. Be careful not to mark column E.

The exam itself:

Ignore everyone else in the room.
Read the question, read the answers, re-read the question again.
Go through the paper and answer all those you are sure of first.
Eliminate the answers you know are incorrect (like 50/50 on who wants to be a millionaire).
Allow approximately a minute and a half per question.
If you aren't sure of an answer within 1 minute move on. There may be another question that may assist you.
Once you have committed to an answer, do not go back and check as invariably you will change a correct answer to an incorrect answer.
Do not over-analyse or second-guess yourself.
If you can't answer all the questions don't worry about it.
Remember to transfer your answers from the question paper to the answer form!

You may also want to refer to my previous Foundation tips post.

First time interviewer?

2006-09-05T18:43:00.000+01:00

We're finally going to appoint some permanent Help Desk Operators and the recently appointed Team Leader was feeling a little apprehensive about conducting the actual interview itself. So, I stepped in with a few tips that I thought I'd share with the rest of you over the next two blog entries. Most organisations will have some recruitment procedures so I'm not going to focus on the entire process, just the interview itself.

Preparation is Key
When you are the interviewee, you prepare for the interview without giving a second thought to the interviewer who may be as nervous as you. The key to eliminating apprehension is adequate preparation. This applies to the interviewer as well as interviewee.

Gather together the Job Description and the Person Specification (if there isn't one then make creating one your first task!).
For each responsibility, jot down a short phrase that encapsulates the behaviours, skills, and knowledges required to deliver it, e.g.
Once the list has been compiled, give yourself 100 points to allocate amongst each. The idea is that those which are more important are awarded more points, and those that are less important receive fewer points. The outcome should be a prioritised list of what you are looking for in the candidate.
If there were more than 10 items on the wish list, cut off those that did not make the top 10. If you find yourself wishing one of the items were in the list, then go back to step 3 and repeat until happy.
Use the information above to design a Candidate Assessment Sheet that you can use during the actual interview for each candidate.