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Service Management Art offers readily available training programs, enabling you to take action on changes now. These programs are designed with you, your people and your customer in mind - and will contribute to your bottom line. |
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The household debate: Tool for school or a process?
"But Mom, Dad! I promise, if I get this laptop, my grades will be so much better! I really, really, really, need one "
I am sure we can all relate in some way to the preceding statement - either as the kids who made the same excuse, or as the parent who has heard the same story. The question is, is it really true? Will your child perform better with the latest 'tech toys', the newest school supplies, (and... funky brands please - because that too, will make their grades better!) or is all they need a solid process?
A similar question can be asked of many organizations. Several organizations strive to be the leaders in technology, and continuously look at acquiring and implementing the latest and greatest 'tool' to enhance their business. The truth is, the greatest return on our investments is likely to come out of the processes we have in place to support our organization as opposed to the amount and type of technology we use to implement them.
For example, whether or not a child uses a laptop versus a workstation to complete an assignment, or 'Hilroy' lined paper versus the general store brand, the critical success factor in completing the assignment will be in making time to complete the research required, design the product, proofread it, and then finalize it in order to hand in the assignment before the required due date. So where we see the most value in delivering the assignment, will be in designing a consistent approach to working on the assignment, and in being able to use time effectively, perhaps by making a day-to-day schedule, where certain blocks of time are allocated to school, homework, extra-curricular and family activities. Where we see the added-value, could be in the tools we use to complete the assignment. A computer typed assignment versus a hand-written one, allows for efficiency in time and ultimately a higher quality end product due to features such as spell check.
So the next time you find yourself facing the age-old debate of school tools versus school process, consider where your child is likely to derive the most value on your investments.
Managing change is an art! |
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Keep up to date and pre-order NEW ITIL v3 books!
In the coming months the new ITIL v3 based books below will be published.
Order at bookstore@servicemanagementart.com
IT Service Management - An introduction
This new publication covers approaches found in ITILŪ V3, ISO 20000 and other frameworks in the marketplace. It is an indispensable guide to IT Service Management, and its comprehensive yet accessible style will ensure that it remains the key product on every service manager's desk.
- Services and Organizations
- IT Service Management
- The Service Lifecycle
- The Core Process Areas
- ISO/IEC 20000, the standard for IT Service Management
- Standards and Frameworks related to IT Service Management
c. 500 pages
English version available: September 2007
IT Service Management - A Pocket Guide
A concise summary of the Introduction to IT Service Management, this new pocket guide is a quick, portable reference tool to the standards used within the Service Management community.
- What are the key Service Management processes?
- What is the 'lifecycle' approach?
- What are the elements of ISO 20000?
c. 150 pages
All of these questions are addressed, together with descriptions of other relevant popular frameworks.
English version available: November 2007
Foundations of IT Service Management based on ITILŪV3
The upgrade of the ever popular guide!!! This new title looks at Good Practices as described in the ITIL V3 upgrade. Focusing on the Lifecycle approach to Service Management, it details:
- Service Strategy
- Service Design
- Service Operation
- Service Transition
- Continual Service Improvement
(The existing Foundation Guide based on Version 2 will be available December 2008)
c. 350 pages
English version available: October 2007.
IT Service Management based on ITILŪV3 - A Pocket Guide
A new pocket guide to the concepts of ITILŪV3. Designed for managers, it provides an overview of the ITILŪV3 upgrade.
c. 150 pages
English available: November 2007
Implementing ISO/IEC 20000 Practical advice on ISO/IEC 20000 certification, to assist readers through the maze of requirements and details for the standard, including the scoping, project approach, certification procedure and management of the certificate. Detailed case study material supports the practical nature of this new title. English version available: November 2007 | |
Peter's Power Play
Processes?
Processes are everywhere, if only we would accept that. Every process is supported by technology and executed by people. When you order a book online, you will follow an ordering process. When you brush your teeth you follow a process (in case you haven't noticed that you start with the same set of teeth everytime). There might be technology to support you, but you still need to follow the steps of the process.
Processes (implied or defined) are a necessary part of life, personal or business. Let's have a look at a simple process example: EMAIL.
Almost everyone has an email account (most of the time multiple). And most of us have difficulty in keeping this a controlled environment. Every day emails arrive, and we just do not have the time to answer all of them. You can turn off the notification in your email client (at least you do not see how much is coming in), or you can color code your emails (so you immediately see if your boss sent you emails). This looks great, but it is really a technology solution that does not get rid of the 1500 emails in your inbox. It does not help you in remembering that you need to send a response to someone. It is just a different way of configuring your technology.
What you really need is a process for email handling.
Try to answer the following questions:
- For every email that comes in what actions are you going to take?
- Do you answer it directly or do you send it of to someone else to action?
- Or do you wait with answering until you have time?
The moment you define the steps for email handling, you will actually have a process defined. If you make that an efficient process, it will help you in handling the amount of email. Now you can organize your email client in such a way that it will support your process. Radical thought. It will not reduce the amount of email, but at least you know how you are going to handle it. Of course you have to keep following the process. The moment the process breaks down, you will be back to the amorphous blob of undoability.
Service Management Art
Peter Lijnse |
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BOOK REVIEW
"IT Small-Scale Implementation". (by Diane)
 What is small? For an IT organization this can be difficult to decipher. This statement can relate to the size of the IT organization, the complexity of the IT Environment or the absolute measure. Many organizations have similar constraints that require scalable ITIL processes. This book provides the reader with very good descriptions and guidelines on how you can define your type of IT organization.
The ideas presented with the book are presented to assist the reader in understanding how scaling ITIL down will affect the functions within ITIL and the stability of an organization.
The book outlines a good clear strategy for implementation and realistic objectives. It is a quick reference guide that covers all aspects of ITIL implementation in a small-scale. It has practical ideas and makes business sense.
There are guidelines provided for setting up the structure, roles, processes and functions within IT. There a good algorithms and decisions tables to assist the reader. Tool requirements are also suggested to assist organizations in understanding their tool needs. A big bonus is that this book provides some good, simple and valuable guidelines for metrics that are important to the business.
This book is packed full of useful information that even large IT organizations could benefit from reading and understanding the scope of implementing ITIL "A Must Read"
Buy this book now! |
TRAINING
Please call 403 208 7163 for registrations.
ITIL Service Manager Course Fall 2007 - ITIL V2
Locations: Vancouver and Calgary
Week 1: October 15 - 19, 2007
Week 2: November 5 - 9, 2007 Week 3: December 10 - 13, 2007
The top reasons for doing the ITIL v2 service manager course this year:
1. Most ITIL implementations only address a few processes - these are all part of version 2, so why wait if you need the knowledge on how to use ITIL in your organization now?
2. To get to the ITIL (v3) Diploma you can use the v2 service manager. According to the APMG website this is a shorter and easier path than the v3 path.
It will be a lot cheaper to do v2 now and less time consuming.
3. Our training sessions are focused on learning how to use ITIL in organizations, this means we are providing a lot of consulting experience that you can utilize in your daily work. Besides that we also ensure that you will receive sufficient information to pass the certification.
But we also want to warn you: There is a lot of studying involved outside the training sessions (on average 200 hours). We will get you the information to succeed - you need to spend the time.
The best person to ask additional questions around this training: the person that just did the exam. If you do not know anyone, contact us and we will bring you in contact with one or two of our students.
Please contact us for more details or registration: 403 208 7163 / info@servicemanagementart.com |
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Keep in Mind...
You can Unsubscribe to this monthly Email-Magazine at any time by clicking the 'unsubscribe - button' at the bottom of this page. But... don't miss out on all those amazing changes in the IT industry! Let us keep you posted.
Service Management Art
Peter Lijnse
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