MakingITWork

User Opinion Doesn’t Matter

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:10:35 -0500

Hank Marquis did not write this article, Dr. M., his alter ego, wrote it. Dr. M. talks about the things IT managers like Hank think about and want to say, but never do. While Hank is a compassionate believer in the inspiring talents of IT staff, Dr. M. is cold and analytical. Where Hank sees extraordinary feats of achievement, Dr. M. sees inefficiency and risk.

Let me just come out and say it: “User opinion isn’t what should be most important to a service provider, and worrying about User satisfaction, is a waste of time and money.”

The term "User" describes the recipient of a service, a role that interacts with and consumes the service defined and paid for by a “Customer” role. In business Users often work for and report to Customers. For example, Sales Staff work for the VP of Sales, Truck Drivers work for the VP of Logistics, and so on. Users interact with IT applications and services to accomplish some business objective established by Customers. It should be the Customer whose opinion matters most to IT, not the User. Lots of trouble arises when IT loses focus on the Customer role, and tries to assume responsibilities outside of its corporate jurisdiction. We see these problems all the time – Service Desk staff delivering service "above and beyond", ill-advised efforts to "exceed expectations" and so on. Moreover, in the end, all these misguided labors usually result in unexpected consequences – usually making life in IT worse than it would be otherwise.

Consider what happens when self-motivated staff at the Service Desk focuses on "delighting Users" and routinely exceed agreed service levels as defined in Service Level Agreements, or SLAs. This can and does happen all the time – and usually because of staff works weekends, stays late, comes in early, and generally works harder than they agreed or need or to. Such noble efforts are doomed to fail because they implicitly reset the SLA. Now, when the normal course of events catch up to these overachievers, and they have to fall back to a sustainable workload – when they simply meet but do not exceed the SLA – Users revolt. You see, by exceeding agreed service levels, they have raised the bar unnecessarily, and often unsustainably. The best of intentions have resulted in unsatisfied Users, who complain to their Customers, who then berate our erstwhile staff. Talk about “no good deed goes unpunished” – there’s a reason IT is the most stressful occupation on earth.

This problem arises because Customers don’t take responsibility for their Users or even try to really understand what their Users actually need. They compound the issue because they don’t interact with IT – many IT managers have never even met or spoken with their “Customers”, except when things go wrong. This problem isn't unique to IT either. By way of example that we all can understand, consider medical service providers. The problem in healthcare insurance (as in IT) is that the Patient (role which is recipient of and interacts with the service provider) is not the Customer (role that pays for and defines the service.) This creates a mismatch in managing the delivery of service. In healthcare insurance, the Customer (who pays for it) is the insurance company, but the patient gets the service. So, whose opinion matters most to the healthcare provider? The payer or the patient? Our hearts say it must be the patient because we all intrinsically understand the provider - consumer relationship. But in which reality does whomever pays the bill not direct the actions? When you buy a pizza, do you not expect what you ordered and paid for? Image a world where you ordered a pizza, someone else paid for it, and you got whatever the delivery man brought you (not what was paid for and not what you ordered.) How often would get what you wanted? Breaking the consumer-provider service relationship by confusing, abdicating or assuming roles and responsibilities rarely results in satisfaction among or between Users or Customers or Providers.

The same disconnect arises in corporate IT. The Customer (e.g., the business) pays for and defines services, but it’s the Users that consume them. Whose opinion matters most to IT – Customer or User? From a provider point of view, the Customer is paying so they matter most; but from a service delivery perspective it’s the User, or at least we think it ought to be, so they matter most. It obviously can’t be both however. What is the role of IT in this situation? Users don’t work for IT, they work for a Customer. It's usually outside of our corporate jurisdiction for IT to mandate service levels based on User opinions. Imagine IT dictating to the VP of Sales what services, applications and features they need and can have to make the numbers. Picture how broken such a sales application – designed by non-sales people who don’t know how to sell – would be. (Well, some of us don’t have to imagine, unfortunately this is exactly how it works in lots of organizations...)

No VP of Sales worth his or her salt should ever accept such an arrangement, yet it is the default position of many. Customers should listen to Users and make sure they properly equip them with services from IT. Customers should interact directly with IT as they do with every other branch of the organization. But many Customers will not or cannot take responsibility for properly defining requirements. Most Customers have never even met or talked with IT staff and management. The CEO often goes to ribbon cuttings, and drops by the Sales Department to checkup, or visits Marketing to provide input for advertising. When was the last time a CEO “dropped by” the Data Center, or the Service Desk?

I know what some of you are thinking right now: "that's exactly why we ask Customers and Users what they want, we collect requirements and build or customize to suite." And I say that's why you constantly hear Customers complaining about the very IT systems that they (the Customers) have approved! Abdication of responsibility by Customers and assumption of that responsibility by IT does not and cannot solve the problem. In fact, it is precisely the cause of the “IT problem” so many have right now.

We in IT can't mandate the relationship between Customer and User, nor can we direct Customers to do the job they ought to do. However, we might be able to facilitate it through measuring service quality requirements from a human (e.g., User) point of view. We could then provide this information to the Customer to help with their decision-making regarding IT funding.

Yet, even this is fraught with issues. What if the Customer decides they don’t care if Users like the systems they define? Most Users hate the IT systems they have, and not for any reason IT can control. Consider sales people – the backbone of many corporations – for without sales, nothing else matters as the saying goes. Any good sales person has a network of buyers they have assembled over time, often this network is why they are hired in the first place. That last thing a good sales person wants to do is input that information into a company database – it’s their livelihood after all – and if they leave the company why should the contacts he or she fought so hard to gain and brought with them remain with the company after they leave? For this reason many sales people hate sales systems, all sales systems. Many sales people actively circumvent them. Now, when they complain about the sales system IT provides (at the behest of the VP of Sales) does it mean the service is of low quality? Does it mean IT is not doing its job? And if the Customer doesn't care if his or her Users like it or not, should IT care about User opinion? Or is Customer opinion more important? What is the role of IT in this scenario?

Of course we all "care", but we shouldn't exceed our authority and try to take action on our own. Think about an enterprise where Customers interact with IT, instead of abdicating to IT, or worse, undermining IT operations with studied disinterest except when things go wrong. What would happen if IT measured User satisfaction in human, job-based terms and had rational conversations with Customers about the findings? How different would things be if Customers were accountable to their Users?

My advice to these Customers? “I can help you, but User opinion isn’t my problem and can’t be solved here in IT. It’s your problem Sir or Madam Customer. Take responsibility for your consumption of IT, work with us to define your needs and manage your people accordingly. Your very future depends upon it.”

Satisfaction, quality, capability, maturity and confusion

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:52:27 -0400

So many people do not understand that satisfaction isn’t the same as quality. They are related, but not the same. An application or service consumer can be satisfied by an encounter, and still feel that quality is low.

Quick example: Your Internet service fails. You are not happy since it fails frequently. You think your provider is of low quality. But, you may be satisfied with the support you get to bring the service back. You are satisfied with one aspect or dimension of the producer (in this example its support), but feel the overall service is of low quality.

The same holds true for the concepts of capability and maturity. Capability is the ability to execute a specific process. Maturity is capability over multiple processes. You may be very capable in one process, say Capacity Management, and still have a low maturity producer organization.

Likewise, Satisfaction is the ability to meet consumer needs for a specific encounter. Quality is the ability to meet consumer needs over multiple encounters.

So satisfaction is to quality as capability is to maturity.

Unlike product quality, service quality isn’t something that can be determined prior to its delivery -- services (and the act of using an application for example) require the engagement of the user by definition.

It is the perception of the consumer (e.g., customer, user, end-customer, end-user, etc.) after they consume that defines satisfaction. [You can be satisfied with meal until after you eat it!] A quality application or service satisfies consumer needs across multiple dimensions, encounter after encounter.

Now, here is the kicker -- capability [and maturity] are thus directly related to satisfaction [and quality]. Think about it -- if a producer is capable across multiple processes, then by definition, it must be satisfying process consumers and thus delivering quality.

Of course, the fallacy and danger of that position is an assumption that the capability chosen for measurement to impute quality is what matters to consumers -- usually it is not!

So, focusing on capabilities seems like the obvious way to improve quality -- as long as the focus is on the correct process.

Luckily, there are proven dimensions of application and service quality which we can measure -- see this wiki for a good description of quality dimensions.

Social Media for ITSM: Adapt or Perish

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:06:38 -0400

Don’t confuse social media with popular outlets for its expression. Social media refers to a dramatic change in the relationship between suppliers and their marketplaces, and one in which consumers now have the upper hand.

IT managers should not discount social media by associating it only with marketing or outlets for its expression like Linked-In, TripAdvisor, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. IT service providers are in effect marketers selling a product to a marketplace. For most of the history of IT that marketplace has been captive, communications largely one sided, and there have been few alternatives.

That situation has changed.

To survive, IT managers need to embrace the concepts of social media to empower their customers and users, too. Social media tools are already affecting IT operations. Read article...

Why You Need BSM Now

Wed, 7 Oct 2009 12:36:59 -0400

A quick review of the 2009 crop of surveys shows that most U.S. companies spend between two percent and nine percent of their annual revenues on IT-related expenditures; making IT a huge investment. Companies are also demanding more than just cost effectiveness, they want competitive advantage from their IT investments.

Unfortunately, however, some 45% of companies view their IT as "necessary"―as in a necessary evil―and fully two-out-of-three feel poor quality IT limits the business.
While most business executives agree that IT should be a contributor to cost effectiveness, two-out-of-three throughout North America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe say their businesses are constrained by IT's inability to quickly adapt to the changing business needs. The global recession and associated IT budget cuts are not helping the CIO's cause either.

At the same time spending is falling, the demand for IT services is increasing due to the confluence of three important trends: complexity, commoditization, and globalization. The dramatic increase in the complexity related to falling costs and accelerating pace of change is well known. Less understood is that businesses now have less and less tolerance for poor service quality due to their dependence on IT.

Making matters worse, today’s economic climate puts IT organizations under increased scrutiny and IT leaders under incredible pressure to deliver real and measurable results. Another trend that does not bode well for IT leaders is that businesses are uncertain about how they ought manage IT. Many businesses are de-emphasizing senior IT positions by having them report to finance.

The bottom line is that the perceived value and prestige of IT leadership is diminishing; and taking many hard-built careers along with it. Facing increasing demand for services, escalating technological complexity, withering scrutiny and declining budgets, how can IT leaders possibly hope to meet the changing demands of the business landscape, move beyond the image of IT as a cost center, and be seen as an innovator and business enabler? Read the answer at CIO Update.com...

Tales from itSMF Fusion 2009

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:53:25 -0400

Just back from Fusion 2009 - “the best of shows and the worst of shows.” Some data points:

• This was the most Tweeted ITSM show ever it seems, with hundreds of tweets and even full motion video tweets courtesy of @ServiceSphere aka Chris Dancy.
• Beyond using social media for tweeting, social media concepts such as staying in touch with customers is emerging as a real and viable tool within IT (or at least people are talking about trying to understand the customer, which is good!)
• That these concepts (basically manifestations of service strategy) are so dimly understood gives me pause though.
• More concerning was the negativity expressed toward the Service Strategy book. This bothers me since Service Strategy is the one ITIL book based on sound science and academically validated concepts -- the rest of ITIL is good practice, which means what we have figured out by trial and error, not necessarily statistically validated however. That the one book based on science, and arguably the one topic that matters most to success (strategy) is so woefully misunderstood by so many is scary.
• The ITIL community is fracturing. The creators of ITIL are going to “fix” it a bit, with tremendous impact (not good) to the training industry; which impact does not seem to matter to the powers that be...Indeed it would seem the powers that be in ITIL don’t even take into consideration the ramifications of their decisions on those who arguably make ITIL work.
• The ITIL community is coming together in order to sustain the huge amount of change OGC (and APMG) is driving in the form of official refreshes, re-writes and updates to both.
• I got nominated for an award (unexpectedly as part of an itSMF committee I work on) which always makes one feel special.
• That so many asked me about strategy and business focus was very good.
• That so many asked questions like “We have great Change Management processes, but how do we make our people follow them?” makes me sad and/or want to scream. [Answer? Job descriptions and a 90 day plan to termination. Reference? Management 101. Next question?]

So, my feelings about Fusion 2009 can be best summarized by Charles Dickens: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way."

IT Needs A Marketing Department

Fri, 4 Sep 2009 11:23:26 -0400

As technology standardizes and becomes ubiquitous, it is the human element of IT that becomes a critical path to customer and user satisfaction -- and IT success.

Today's IT systems and the services they comprise are becoming commodities. As commodities, the hardware and software artifacts composing IT systems get faster, cheaper, and better at predictable pace.

With the increased availability of telecommunications transmission systems such as the Internet and cellular and cable communications, the quantity of businesses and individuals relying upon IT services rises annually. With this increase in usage comes increased dependency, which places significant burdens upon both the consumers and producers of IT services.

IT services and IT service providers have a direct and growing impact on IT consumers who rely upon IT services. Yet the complexity and ubiquity of modern IT services conspire to create a murky situation in which understanding which hardware, software, network and human resource does what, for whom, when, and why is nearly impossible. While it may seem obvious to "focus on the consumer" today even discovering whom the consumer is can be difficult at times.

Still, most IT managers do not make random decisions regarding the allocation of their resources. The responsible manager believes he or she has the best interests of the consumer and user in mind, and the manager usually believes that what he or she is doing is the right course of action. All too often however these decisions by IT managers are made in a knowledge vacuum.

The manager believes he or she knows what is best and understands fully the requirements placed upon him or her, when in reality, the complexity of the IT systems masks the true requirements of the IT service, resulting in dissatisfaction with IT service provider and frustration from IT managers and providers.

IT services are intangible, still, most IT managers continue to think and operate using product-oriented terms. IT managers are only now truly beginning to understand that as IT becomes a commodity the way it needs to be managed has change dramatically. In such a turbulent situation, IT managers need a framework to help them identify where they are most likely to get the best performance from their limited resources -- and that framework isn’t ITIL, COBIT, ISO-anything or project management. It’s marketing and consumer demographics.

Understanding consumer demographics, and measuring IT service quality from the point of view of the consumer is exactly what is required for today's IT service providers to remain relevant and successful.

Companies today demand competitive advantage from their IT investments, but many view their IT as “necessary” -- as in a necessary evil -- and most feel poor IT quality limits the business. As a result most IT managers are frustrated and struggle with strained relationships with their business.

IT managers need concepts, principles, skills and tools to measure quality, analyze results, communicate findings, justify improvements, develop actions, and apply practical solutions to overcome challenges, seize opportunities, and empower business success. And those tools are not based on IT operational metrics or frameworks, or even so-called BSM tools that map said IT operational metrics to business processes.

The kinds of tools IT needs today are marketing tools -- service quality perceptions, consumer value sentiments, demographics and marketplace statistics, service quality analysis based on human factors not operational metrics. In short, today’s IT organization requires a marketing department.

Why Now is the Perfect Time for ITIL

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:57:58 -0400

With a global recession still in full swing, many wonder if it is the right time to invest in ITIL. The short answer is that you don’t have to invest in ITIL per se, but you should invest in what’s necessary for aligning with the business, controlling costs, improving quality, balancing resource allocations and doing more with the same resources. Some refer to this as competitive advantage, which IT still can and does deliver.

According to Wikipedia, competitive advantage is “a position a firm occupies against its competitors, allowing it to earn revenues higher than costs.” So let us ask the question again: Is now the time to position your business in its industry as a leader in either superior service or lowest costs? If the answer is yes, then you need to understand how to achieve these benefits, and ITIL is the pathway to your success.

Setting the Agenda
First, ITIL is not and should not be your goal. Pursuit of ITIL for the sake of ITIL is a sure path to failure. Second, pursuit of ITIL for the sake of process is also doomed. ITIL even says that process is the means to an end, not an end in its own right, and too much process is as bad as too little process.

Pursuit of a worthy goal that you realize through ITIL however, is an entirely different prospect. Competitive advantage is an advantage one business enjoys over its competitors. A business achieves competitive advantage by offering consumers greater value by lowering prices (cost advantage) or providing higher quality products and services that demand a premium (differentiation advantage.) Read the article...

The Business of IT (IT from the CFO's point of view)

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:54:14 -0400

Lack of an IT process costs the average Fortune 500 company the equivalent of $261,000,000 a year. No wonder more than half of all CEOs question the value of their IT organizations.  As a management consultant helping my clients attain competitive advantage from their IT investments, there's one phrase I hear all the time. It goes something like this: "We don't need a process; we're IT pros; we know what to do.  "When I hear this attitude, I know I am working with an individual or a company statistically more likely to fail than to succeed. Don't misunderstand me - technology obviously has its place, but using technology correctly is simply more important.
In this article I am going to show how the lack of an IT process is perhaps the single greatest impediment to business success of all time. Then, I am also going to show you what you can do about it, because your IT investments can still deliver a competitive advantage if managed correctly.
The issue at hand is that many IT managers have reversed the IT-cart with the process-horse (putting IT before the process). If you are one of these IT managers, perhaps you will come to understand why you are most likely always at odds with customers and management who you feel "you just don't get it." If you are a customer or non-IT executive it may give you the motivation to make the changes needed to solve the real problem.
To begin, I recently came across the following statistics from 30 companies where senior leaders chose to improve process instead of chase technology. These organizations realized an average of:
• 34% cost reduction
• 50% improvement in schedule
• 61% productivity increase
• 48% improvement in quality
• 14% increase in customer satisfaction
• 4:1 Return on Investment

Then, there was another announcement about companies that focused on developing sound management skills (read process). These organizations generated:
• EBITDA of 16.2 percent versus 14.1 percent for typical companies (which would net a typical Fortune 500 company an additional $399 million annually)
• $247 million annually via a 22% improvement in net profit margin
• $992 million annually via a 49% improvement in return on assets
• $340 million annually via a 27% improvement in return on equity
Show me a technology - any hardware or software from any vendor - that consistently delivers results like these, please! When it comes to developing software applications, it's not the language [tool] you use, but how you use the language [tool] that really counts. IT people use tools in their jobs to build IT systems. Employees use IT systems as tools to carry-out business functions. How people use tools is the very definition of process. Use a tool the right way, and the benefits can be amazing. Use the same tool incorrectly, and the results can be devastating. What's the difference? Process, of course. Read the article...

BSM Defined: What It Is and Should Never Be

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 07:22:18 -0400

Business service management (BSM) is a relatively new term in the IT management community. Over the last few years it has become a sort of buzzword – many vendors are adopting the term and using it to market their products and services. The average executive is now inundated with vendors and products all claiming to deliver BSM, whatever that means. 
The purpose of this article is to explain what BSM is and what it isn’t. This article describes BSM benefits, where the term comes from, why you need to know about it, which types of IT organization can benefit from using it and how to get started. 
First of all, BSM is not a product or a technology. You cannot buy BSM, and it does not come out of any box. One of the original developers of the term likes to say that BSM is a “mindset, not a product set.” Of course, that hasn’t stopped many vendors from jumping on the BSM product bandwagon. One vendor proudly proclaims, “BSM is software that essentially forms a dynamic link between business-oriented IT services and the IT infrastructure components that support those services.” Really?
It also hasn’t stopped lots of analyst firms from weighing in either. In fact, one notable firm thinks BSM is IT management “understanding the metrics their business users employ to decide if IT is providing value, and linking these metrics and associated business services to IT infrastructure components.”
 There we have it then. BSM isn’t software after all – it’s metrics and components. But wait doesn’t that require software? CMDB software right? 
BSM has even found its way into the new ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library version 3), which defines BSM as “An approach to the management of IT Services that considers the business processes supported and the business value provided.” Note the focus on understanding the reason for business needs, meaning BSM is how to properly and effectively implement ITIL.
 So, which is it? If you are confused, you are not alone. Since arising a number of years ago at BMC Software the term has taken on life of its own. So much so in fact that BSM is quickly approaching the term CMDB in terms of uselessness, ambiguity and confusion. It’s unfortunate too, since BSM is something that is absolutely critical to the success of IT.  In the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the Monster addresses his creator Dr. Frankenstein and says, “You are my creator, but I am your master.” – indicating that sometimes the creations of smart people turn into things outside of their control. Such is exactly what happened with CMDB over the last five years or so, and also precisely what is happening to BSM. Read the article...

Why IT Service Level Management Fails (And How to Fix It)

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:14:35 -0400

IT managers think IT services are different from other services. Not so. To deliver any type of service follows a few identical processes. Not understanding this is the reason for much of the pain and suffering born by IT providers and their users today.  Consider: would the owner of a quick oil-change company measure his or her service quality in terms of oil viscosity, oil splashed (or not) on the floor, choosing the right oil filter, assembling the rubber O-ring correctly, dispensing the right amount of oil, and remembering to put the oil cap and plug back in? Of course not, yet this is precisely how the average IT service level agreement (SLA) reads.  Oil change franchises measure their quality based on getting the job done fast and right. But ask yourself one question—what is the job? Oil change franchises don’t market fast oil changes. According to the websites of several top franchises they market “preserving the health and value of your vehicle” and “keep your car running well and running longer.”  What are you measuring with your SLA? Does your customer care about whatever you are measuring? Do you know what your job is or what your customers really want? Read the article at CIO Update.com

ITIL v3: What It Is and Why You Should Care

Sat, 4 Oct 2008 16:42:11 -0400

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is the proven way for IT organizations to align with the business, control costs, improve quality, and balance resource allocations. Research shows a dramatic increase in ITIL adoption over the last few years. A study in 2006 showed that about 30% of IT organizations were using ITIL; a 2008 follow-up survey puts the count at 80%. This white paper describes ITIL's benefits and history, as well as why you need to know about it, which types of IT organization can benefit from using it, and how to get started.

Get the paper...

BSM: What It Is and Why You Should Care

Sat, 4 Oct 2008 16:30:59 -0400

Business Service Management (BSM) is a relatively new term in the IT management community but it has already become a buzzword. This white paper explains what BSM is and how it can benefit your organization. Learn how you can obtain significant real value in a relatively short period of time if you follow the four-step BSM model. Understand why it's important to think and talk about the long term. This white paper also explains the goals of BSM. 
Get the paper...

ITSM Tool Adoption: Pass or Fail?

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:55:05 -0400

CMDB debacles have become legendary, with many monitoring implementations close behind. With the new buzz around Service Catalog, can failure here be far behind? The sad truth is that most IT projects fail, but there is something you can do about it. By now you must know that due to high failures and high cost some 30% of IT projects are cancelled outright. Research shows that of those that complete at all, 51% exceed budget by 189% and deliver only 74% functionality. This means that just around 19% of IT projects complete on time, within budget and with the features promised. Here is the kicker to us ITSM folks – adopting IT service management practices and new ITSM software tools are also projects! And yes, research shows about the same dismal success rates for our BSM, ITSM, ITIL and tool initiatives as well. The waste from failed IT projects is staggering and comes in at around $75 billion annually – mainly due to poor performance drivers, undisciplined project management and poor communication between IT and the business and within IT. Is there any wonder why the business is so hesitant to green light our pet IT projects? This also explains why more and more businesses are looking to project management as a means to manage IT. The issue is that most IT managers are only vaguely aware of formal project management; it is an entire body of knowledge and skills, by the way. Many within IT usually hold project management and project managers in contempt, sometimes for good reasons. Most IT managers only come into contact with project management when the Project Management Office that “does project management to IT” shows up. So, what is going on here? Can’t we learn what to do from those IT projects that succeed and what not to do from those IT projects that fail? Can’t we in IT learn how be successful? The answer is yes, and it is also pretty easy too.
Following is a simple tool anyone can use to help determine your chances of success or failure. While this is an “unofficial” assessment and of course incomplete, it will do the job 80% of the time and at significantly less cost than hiring a consultant to boot. Read the article...

From the Ashes of Failed Quality Initiatives

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:36:29 -0400

The gems of IT service quality can be found in the smoldering embers of failed Six Sigma deployments and botched Total Quality Management initiatives.  In an article in Baseline Magazine, Steve Sounders, Yahoo! Inc.’s chief performance yahoo, explains how he spent the bulk of his time working on the wrong 5% of the system. He did a survey of response times to load Yahoo! pages and found “80 to 90 percent of user response time is spent on the front end” not the back-end - where he had spent the previous 4 years optimizing code.  Only with prodding from management did the team examine the entire process, and in so doing discover that the “obvious” things to IT pros were the wrong things with regard to the customer.  He spent 4 years optimizing software that had at best a 5-10% impact on customer experience. What a terrific, typical and terrible example of IT experts who think they know how to improve things. As a side note, Yahoo! lost its luster during this period as well - coincidence or symptomatic? We may never truly know, but it’s an interesting observation isn’t it?  In Six Sigma terms, what Yahoo! missed was the “Voice Of the Customer” or VOC. What the team did not do was quantify the entire user experience (called process mapping) to discover the “vital few” process contributors critical to quality (CTQ). Finally, there was no evaluation of the cost of poor quality (COPQ) regarding the decisions to optimize server side instead of client side code.  While Six Sigma, LEAN, TQM and other quality frameworks have gotten a bad rap (in many cases for good reasons), discarding some of their basic tenets and tools is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Using select Six Sigma, Lean and/or TQM methods and tools in ITSM and ITIL - without implementing the entire program - can deliver exactly what IT has been missing.  It turns out that at least one of the secrets to aligning with the business, controlling costs, improving quality and yes, even competitive advantage may be found in the ashes of these failed quality initiatives. From an ITIL perspective, this is complimentary guidance - something critical to success with ITIL, but something ITIL itself does not cover.
 In this article I introduce some key Six Sigma concepts that can really accelerate an ITIL implementation, and help improve the odds of success dramatically. Get to know these tools and your ITSM initiatives will be measurable improved. Read article.

The 3 Keys to ITIL Success

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:33:54 -0400

If you have been trying to get your arms around ITIL and ITSM then you have probably heard that most projects fail from “lack of management commitment” – a wonderfully provocative and yet completely vacant phrase.  Since establishing a functional ITSM workflow and culture based on ITIL is a project, I looked into how many IT projects fail, and why. The results are shocking, but not unexpected to anyone who actually works in IT.   Read the article at CIO Update.com

How to “Do” ITIL®

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:47:24 -0400

It's a common scenario: You complete your ITIL certification program. You feel good, you feel empowered, and you have been exposed to some of the most brilliant logic ever put to paper on the topic of IT service management. Congratulations! You're certified, now what are you going to do?  One of the biggest obstacles to realizing the benefits IT service management can deliver is understanding where and how to begin your IT Infrastructure Library® (ITIL®) implementation. ITIL is even a bit contradictory in that it says not to start with process, but rather strategy—whatever that means.  ITIL v3 offers some very prescriptive advice with regard to addressing this issue with the concept of Service Portfolio Management (SPM). The SPM process contains perhaps the most important four sentences ever written with regard to IT service management success. Unfortunately, very few people have the ITIL, and fewer grasp the significance of the following concept: define, analyze, approve, charter.  Those four simple words are the starting point for ITSM and BSM (Business Service Management) success. The basic concept is simple: inventory services, create business cases, align and prioritize to balance supply and demand, authorize resources, communicate decisions, allocate resources and generally get it done. Of course, the ITIL does not say exactly how to go about achieving these goals.
Following I explain an actionable 4-step plan that enables you to quickly and easily jump-start your BSM or ITIL initiative; meet the changing demands of your business landscape; provide tangible evidence of alignment; move beyond the image of IT as a cost center; and be seen as an innovator and business enabler. Read article...

Do Your IT Guys Truly Understand Your Business?

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 09:52:57 -0400

Forbes.com ran an interview I did about the importance of defining services and understanding the business. It was focused on Small to Mid-Sized Business (SMB) organizations.

“Business success isn't about having better technology; it's about using technology better. That means making sure your IT department truly understands your business, says Hank Marquis, director of IT service management consulting at Enterprise Management Associates and former chief technology officer at itSM Solutions. Marquis believes that "defining IT services" is the first step in ensuring that your IT department not only keeps your company up and running but also contributes to its overall success.”

Read article at Forbes.com...

How to Justify Getting Started with ITIL® by Thinking Outside of the IT Box

Mon, 5 May 2008 09:14:48 -0400

In today’s business climate and economic uncertainty, IT infrastructure expenditures are scrutinized by senior management. Due to the extreme costs involved with large IT infrastructure deployments and on-going operations of IT infrastructures, executive management including the CIO, CEO and CFO all take an active part in IT decision making. IT purchasers are not only requesting ROI justification -- they are demanding it. IT project sponsors must validate their proposals in precise and measurable ways.  So, in a flat budget world, how does one justify ITIL® initiatives and validate ITIL®’s claims regarding return on investment (ROI) and value to the organization? Read article at itsmfusa.org

Guerrilla IT: How to stop worrying and learn to love your superusers

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:44:54 -0400

I was interviewed by InfoWorld on a favorite topic: Shadow IT, called “Guerrilla IT” in this article.

“Here's a sobering statistic: Eighty percent of enterprise IT functions are being duplicated by folks outside of the IT department, says Hank Marquis, director of ITSM (IT systems management) consulting at Enterprise Management Associates. In other words, for every 10 people doing IT work as part of their jobs, you've got another eight "shadow IT" staffers doing it on their own.

You probably know them. They're the ones who installed their own Wi-Fi network in the break room and distribute homemade number-crunching apps to their coworkers on e-mail. They're hacking their iPhones right now to work with your company's mail servers. In short, they're walking, talking IT governance nightmares.

But they could be your biggest assets, if you use them wisely.

The reason superusers go rogue is usually frustration, says Marquis. "It's a symptom of the IT organization being unable to meet or even understand the needs of its customers," he says. "Otherwise, it wouldn't be happening."
The solution? Put them to work. Read the article...

Think Past Internal Boundaries to Justify IT Projects

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 07:08:50 -0400

In a flat budget world how does one justify IT projects and validate claims of return on investment (ROI) and value? IT purchasers are not only requesting ROI justification, they are demanding it. IT project sponsors must validate their proposals in precise and measurable ways.  New EMA research seems to validate the “word on the street” about IT budgets in 2008-2009. A survey carried out in February 2008 showed that 37% of IT budgets increased, 37% decreased, and the balance were unchanged. 37% - 37% + 0% = 0%. Put another way, the IT budget world is flat.  Making decisions is a measure of risk and reward. We know the investment. We think we know the rewards. Industry statistics peg the IT project failure rate at around 70%, and while the costs to the industry are staggering, worse is the poor reputation we in IT have with the money people.  Basing service value primarily on desired business outcomes is the message of ITIL v3. Further, using risk to (evaluate) those business outcomes is probably the most effective way to get business' attention, as well. Measuring service value by risk is a wonderfully clarifying process because it quickly shows whether a project is justified. A secondary benefit is that virtually every business manager got their position by making sound risk vs. reward decisions so it enhances business/IT alignment. Read article at ITSMWatch.com...

Effective Project Management, ITIL and BSM

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 07:02:47 -0400

Let me be clear: about 70% of what you do on a daily basis is rework because of a lack of basic project management skills at all levels of your IT organization. Put another way, could IT budgets be decreased by 70% if rework was eliminated? As we march down the road towards business service management (BSM) it is clear that traditional project management techniques have not been successful in IT. It’s time to elevate IT project management to the level of required skill for all IT workers. Why? Because just 30% of IT projects come to a successful conclusion. This is a good thing if these projects are terminated during the planning phase, but is a very bad thing if they are abandoned during execution or after. These project failures reportedly cost the industry $75 billion dollars per year. As if that were not enough, on average 51% of IT projects exceed budget by 189% and deliver only 74% of the promised functionality.
This got me thinking about a research report that I wrote in early 2006 about what makes some firms successful while others fail at adopting ITIL. One of the key findings in my report was that the successful treated ITIL adoption as a formal project. Read article at CIOUpdate.com...

ITIL Service Strategy Presentation

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:09:01 -0400

I filled in for an author of ITIL v3 Service Strategy Book, it went very well. Service Strategy is the most important book in the ITIL – it is the very center of the Service Lifecycle. Service Strategy positions the “why” of improvement before the “how” and “what”. At its heart, Service Strategy is aligning with the business first, balancing resources and allocating effort in ways that differentiate the IT provider from the competition – and all IT providers face increasing competition. The Service Strategy book is classic ITIL in that it lays out all the possible actions and reactions.

By its own admission, the purpose of this book is to stimulate thought. Like other classic ITIL books, this one also offers little in the way of guidance with getting started. The purpose of this presentation is to introduce the Service Strategy book, and then distill it to an easy to understand roadmap for achieving the important and transformational goals and vision of the ITIL Service Strategy book.

I presented to a full house (great crowd!) an easy to follow map based on the Service Strategy book that will get you going in hours on important topics like service portfolio management, service catalog, resource allocation, justification of IT initiatives and other benefits promised by Service Strategy. Read more...

Theory of efficiency

Fri, 7 Mar 2008 11:49:10 -0500

ComputerWorld Middle East carried an article that quoted me heavily, talking about SMB efficiency.

According to an Enterprise Management Associates analyst, big-company IT departments are more efficient and effective than smaller ones.  It's not enough that mid-market IT shops have to feel slightly envious of big-company IT departments and their access to seemingly unlimited resources, tools and staffers. Now, says Hank Marquis, director of IT service management consulting at Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), an analysis of recent data trends show that IT departments in Fortune 1000 enterprises actually are more productive and effective service providers than mid-market counterparts—and it has nothing to do with the amount of staffers or money spent.
 "The staff-versus-budget argument is based on a false assumption—it improperly assumes that resources committed to IT are used efficiently and effectively. However, in the majority of IT organizations, they are not," says Marquis.

So how did Marquis get to this conclusion? First, he states that mid-market IT shops are in trouble. "If the average mid-market IT organization were an independent business, it would have gone out of business long ago," Marquis adds.

Read the article here...

The Politics of IT Service Valuation

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 06:50:41 -0500

ITIL has entire sections dedicated to explaining in exquisite detail how IT services create value. Unfortunately, ITIL neither makes it easy to understand, nor gets it quite right. Understanding how to value IT services is something that is pivotal to competitive advantage. Essentially, it’s a
question of politics.  
Establishing the value of an IT service is of critical importance to any IT service provider. Only by establishing the true value of an IT service can the IT provider correctly know how to allocate and balance limited resources in ways that benefit the enterprise. The answer to IT cost control, quality improvement, business alignment – indeed to competitive advantage from IT – is resource allocation based on IT service value. The question is how to best establish empirical (measurable and objective) IT service value.  
ITIL claims that delivering IT services that are fit for purpose (utility) and fit for use (warranty) creates value, and is the basis for valuing IT services and setting service strategies. Of course, this concept is difficult to grasp without actually having the books, reading them, and then interpreting and translating them into an action plan.   Such is the nature of ITIL and all the “big frameworks” – by necessity they cannot be prescriptive. Even so, this is insufficient guidance. At issue is that if an IT service provider cannot allocate and reallocate resources as required based on value to the enterprise (not customers), then there is little chance that such services may be provided or supported properly. In fact, we all probably know many examples of “over supporting” because some “loud” customer or user
got his or her way. There are just as many examples of “quiet” customers suffering because he or she was not vocal enough. Making resource allocation decisions politically may be an expedient thing to do for some IT managers, but in the end, the entire enterprise suffers. Given the current economic climate, few enterprises can afford to squander precious IT resources.  
The “value = utility + warranty” equation ITIL presents probably makes more sense if you are or represent an enterprise whose primary products are IT services. However, for traditional IT organizations this equation is a bit difficult to internalize. Left to one’s own interpretation, one could think this means, “if we in IT do what we said we were going to do, we create value.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Read the article at ITSMWatch.com...

The Productivity Gap Between Mid-Market and Large IT Shops

Fri, 8 Feb 2008 06:37:09 -0500

CIO Magazine interviewed me about an article I wrote titled “Are IT Budgets too big?” -- here is what they said:  “It's not enough that mid-market IT shops have to feel slightly envious of big-company IT departments and their access to seemingly unlimited resources, tools and staffers.  Now, says Hank Marquis, director of IT service management consulting at Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), an analysis of recent data trends show that IT departments in Fortune 1000 enterprises actually are more productive and effective service providers than mid-market counterparts—and it has nothing to do with the amount of staffers or money spent.”  Read the article at CIO.COM...

The Best Way to Define IT Services

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 06:42:01 -0500

ITIL portfolio management is the new rage and every CIO wants to define their IT services, create service catalogs and start the process of business/IT alignment. Unfortunately ITIL doesn’t offer much guidance on exactly how to do these things, and about 30% of IT organizations stall at this most fundamental of ITSM points.  One of the main reasons so many organizations stall at the IT service definition phase is precisely the lack of guidance on how to perform IT service definition. ITIL is insufficient in defining services and does not help much to develop a sound IT service definition model. But ITIL does reference dozens of related frameworks and practices. In keeping with this tradition I went out and looked around for the best IT service definition framework or practice I could find.  As I started thinking about it, and asked myself, “Self, who has been thinking about how to offer standard IT service offerings based on shared support and delivery models and who has been doing it (and that means refining it) longer than anyone else?” Well, I think I have uncovered the most elegant, easy to understand, logical and powerful IT service definition model in the world. With this model you can quickly define your IT services, create a service portfolio hierarchy and generally speaking get off the dime and define your IT services starting as soon as you finish this article!  Read the article at ITSMWatch.com...

So, You’ve Inherited a Management Tool! Now What?

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:42:48 -0500

Scenario: You get promoted and assume management over the IT organization. Things seem great at first. Then, as you settle in, issues start coming out. Your Director of Support informs you that he feels the exiting software (a comprehensive suite from a leading vendor) is not up to the job. Your own investigation shows that your IT staff skips using the tool more often than not. After talking with the CFO you find out the tool has 5 years left on the books -- you won’t be upgrading or getting a new suite any time soon. Welcome to your new job, and by the way, the CEO wants to talk about how you plan to improve things.

This is not a made up scenario. It is a reality that many IT executives face. We all know you should choose a tool based on your needs, but what do you do when you already have a software tool, or don’t have any control over the tools you have?

We can’t always choose our tools, and when we can’t we simply have to make do with what we have. My position in such cases is to adopt a more process-reliant approach. That is, rely less on the tool and more on the process for using the tool. This means you want to keep customization to a minimum and need to transfer as much value as you can when you do get your new tool.

Tools automate tasks that people find mundane, and do things that people are not particularly good at -- like tracking issues or sending automatic responses. How, when and why people use a tool is called process, and process is not only portable, it grows and increases in value over time.

The software in the real-life scenario presented above is a full-feature IT Service Management suite from a major vendor, and there is nothing at all wrong with it. The current IT staff had no input into its selection, and since they were not involved with its selection they no vested interest in making it successful.

A real mess, but there is hope. Lets consider some common functions in the software inherited in this scenario, and recommendations for getting the most value out of the current tool while planning for the future. Read article...

Are IT Budgets too Big?

Tue, 4 Dec 2007 07:24:44 -0500

THE AGE OLD CHOICE between expanding IT staffing and controlling IT costs may be a false one. The staff vs. budget argument is based on a false assumption – it improperly assumes that resources committed to IT are used efficiently and effectively. However, in the majority of IT organizations they are not. Here are some alarming statistics plucked from recent reports, headlines and presentations:
• 60¢ of every 1$ spent on IT goes toward infrastructure, with operating expenditures (OPEX) taking 36¢. OPEX is mostly the “human” side of operations.
• 70% of all calls for support are a direct result of incorrect operating procedures.
• 8 out of 10 IT outages are caused by a failed change.
• 90% of mid-market IT organizations use manual processes.
• The “user to IT worker” ratio for the Fortune 1000 is 512:1, for the mid-market it’s 175:1, making mid-market IT 1/3 as effective as their larger cousins.
• Mid-market IT organizations have on average 6 standalone IT software tools; and research shows that trying to use these tools together is a primary productivity issue.
• 70% of IT projects fail – either cancelled (30%), as much as 189% over budget (40%), and/or deliver just 74% of the promised functionality. By these measures only about 20% of all IT projects can be considered a success.
• Fewer than 20% manage human capital (e.g., invest in training and skills improvement for staff) or actively measure systems or worker performance.
• Staff turnover can exceed 27% and IT has been identified as the most stressful occupation on earth.

If mid-market IT is only 35% as efficient as it could be, does that mean that at least 24% of mid-market IT budget is wasted? [36¢ x 65% = 24¢.] It sure seems possible. And this does not include the cost of IT project failure, which comes in at around 22¢ of every dollar -- 46¢ of every IT dollar seems to vanish due to waste. Clearly, all is not well in IT-land! So what is going on here, and more importantly, what can be done about it?

In this article I describe the wrong solution, and offer one solution that offers hope. Read article...

Who Said You Can Work in IT?

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 08:10:13 -0500

As the unstoppable commoditization of IT breeds new laws that increasingly target individual executives and workers and holds them accountable for their actions, the sobering truth is most IT workers are not qualified to work in IT and most IT managers are not qualified to lead their workers.  This is not my opinion, it is a fact. Craftspeople, for example, face a more rigorous vetting program, are subject to more stringent oversight and review and face more audited personal responsibility than virtually any IT worker employed today.  But that is changing as IT laws and regulations driven by IT commoditization take direct aim at IT practitioners, not just the corporations for which they work. Some recent examples of individuals targeted by IT laws include:

• A systems administrator was arrested by the FBI in connection with installing a “logic bomb” on servers at his company Medco, a major prescription benefit manager.
• The CEO of EBay’s Indian subsidiary was arrested under the Indian “Information Technology Act” for failure to control usage of an IT service.
• An employee of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance earned the dubious distinction of being the first person sentenced to jail time for “Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act Of 1996” or HIPPA violations.
• A helpdesk employee in India was arrested for allegedly using U.S. customer credit card data to which he had access at his workplace to make fraudulent purchases.

These few examples illustrate a growing trend: IT workers and executives are now targets of law enforcement. As IT commoditization continues, society becomes even more dependent upon IT and this increased dependency means IT has the potential to cause more and more severe harm to individuals.

This gives rise to several questions critical to the future of virtually every IT manager and worker: What gives IT workers the right to operate the systems under their control and access the data they manipulate? And, perhaps more importantly: What ensures customers and users those IT workers will perform in a trusted manner and safeguard their information?

Based on recent industry events and increasing punitive legal action against IT executives, individuals and companies, this article describes one probable future for IT and predicts how and why IT worker qualification will be the top priority of IT leaders in the very near future. Read article...

Good CIO’s Lead by Following

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 20:02:51 -0500

If stress is your measure, then IT is the “worst” place to work. A study finds that IT workers face more job stress than firefighters and doctors. The reason may be that IT leaders do not know how to follow.   A 2006 study claims that 97% of IT workers say they experience job-related stress on a daily basis. Some 80% say they feel stressed before they even get to work, and around 25% admit to taking time off to deal with the stress. These numbers place IT as the most stressful profession – beating out doctors, firefighters, and many others.

The top reason listed is “lack of support, increasing pressure, interruptions and bullying behavior” from their direct managers. The report goes on to list other reasons including (in order): Workload, Feeling undervalued, Deadlines, Type of work people have to do, Having to take on other people’s work, Lack of job satisfaction, Lack of control over the working day, Having to work long hours, and Frustration with the working environment.

Stress is a leading cause of turnover, especially at the Service or Help Desk. It may be part of the reason there are fewer and fewer college graduates seeking a career in IT. Finally, stress related illness is a leading cause of workplace injury and results in a staggering multi-billion dollar cost.

According to the sufferers, it seems the reasons for this stress come directly from a lack of leadership from IT managers. If this is the case, and it appears to be, then it is within the power of IT management to improve productivity, reduce costs and enhance the working environment simply by becoming better managers and leaders.

So, to improve IT service quality, improve customer satisfaction and reduce costs, perhaps it makes sense for CIOs to begin right at home – with staff working conditions.

It turns out that most IT job related stress comes from a failure of those in IT management roles to understand that to lead, he or she has to follow. Effective leaders focus on relationships. They build a trusted team and then follow the team’s advice.

Many CIOs and IT managers lack this understanding, and this causes stress, making IT the “worst job in the world.”

Following are eight IT leadership traits that show CIOs and other IT leaders how to follow their constituents – and in so doing increase project success rates, reduce costs, and improve IT service quality as he or she creates a better working place. Read article at CIO Update.com

InfoVista Goes Deep with Acquisition of Accellent

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:49:20 -0500

On October 30, 2007, InfoVista, a provider of infrastructure performance and service quality monitoring products, announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire France-based privately held Accellent, a provider of advanced network applications response and traffic monitoring solutions.   Accellent’s products collect application usage and traffic data using Cisco NetFlow, Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) and other application sensitive mechanisms.

I am familiar with InfoVista as I performed a product audit marketing assessment of it in 2005. This move should allow InfoVista to offer a more compelling enterprise level product in addition to an application aware service provider product in the VoIP and so-called “triple play” services (telephone, high speed internet and television via broadband.)

InfoVista plans to release the integration of the Accellent appliance with the InfoVista software product in mid-2008. There are no defined plans for the InfoVista product to be delivered on an appliance. Both service provider and enterprise customers will be well served by the integration of these two product lines and companies.

These technologies also position InfoVista to become a credible player in the application discovery and CMDB markets in the future as well.

Scripted Success

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:50:40 -0500

Service Desk staff performing Incident Control provides the initial support, investigation and diagnosis to resolve incidents. The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) says that key to Service Desk effectiveness is efficient Incident matching. Unfortunately, the ITIL does not say exactly how one should implement matching! Luckily, hidden deep with the ITIL, there are some clues, and they lead to a very effective method for matching: the diagnostic script (or script).

A script is an expert system using structured questions to collect data. Scripts let non-experts make expert decisions.
Using scripts dramatically improves Incident classification, diagnosis, and matching while greatly improving the accuracy of Incident assignments and escalations.

Scripts provide optimal guidance to resolve Incidents in the least time possible with the most accuracy.

Following I explain what they are, how to create them, and how to use them. Read Article...

So, You’ve Inherited a Management Tool! Now What?

Fri, 9 Nov 2007 08:57:27 -0500

Scenario: You get promoted and assume management over the IT organization. Things seem great at first. Then, as you settle in, issues start coming out. Your Director of Support informs you that he feels the exiting software (a comprehensive suite from a leading vendor) is not up to the job. Your own investigation shows that your IT staff skips using the tool more often than not. After talking with the CFO you find out the tool has 5 years left on the books -- you won’t be upgrading or getting a new suite any time soon. Welcome to your new job, and by the way, the CEO wants to talk about how you plan to improve things.

This is not a made up scenario. It is a reality that many IT executives face. We all know you should choose a tool based on your needs, but what do you do when you already have a software tool, or don’t have any control over the tools you have?

We can’t always choose our tools, and when we can’t we simply have to make do with what we have. My position in such cases is to adopt a more process-reliant approach. That is, rely less on the tool and more on the process for using the tool -- more about that in a minute.

The reason for this approach is because you may replace the tool in the future. This means you want to keep customization to a minimum and need to transfer as much value as you can when you do get your new tool.

Which gets me back to process. Tools automate tasks that people find mundane, and do things that people are not particularly good at -- like tracking issues or sending automatic responses. Generally speaking how a tool does what it does is a function of the tool. In other words, these things are not usually portable.

People use tools to get a job done. How, when and why people use a tool is called process, and process is not only portable, it grows and increases in value over time.
The software in the real-life scenario presented above is a full-feature IT Service Management suite from a major vendor. In all honesty there is nothing at all wrong with it. The current IT staff had no input into its selection, and since they were not involved with its selection they no vested interest in making it successful. Some interesting politics had their role in this as well – the CIO acquired this software from a vendor the IT staff management (his new direct reports) didn’t like.

All in all a real mess, but there is hope. Lets consider some common functions in the software inherited in this scenario, and recommendations for getting the most value out of the current tool while planning for the future. Article at emausa.com

Automating ITIL

Fri, 2 Nov 2007 20:32:08 -0400

ITIL is rife with opportunities to improve IT’s services through automation. Replacing manual work with automation is all the rage today.   Automation is a hot topic, but its dirty little secret is that you cannot automate something if you do not understand how it works in the first place. This critical detail makes ITIL process definition a cornerstone to success with IT Service Management (ITSM) automation.  Run Book Automation (RBA), IT Process Automation (ITPA), or simply plain old automation is at the forefront of IT operations today because of the commoditization of IT. While the cost of acquisition for new technology continues to plummet as ease-of-use skyrockets, technology still requires support. IT operations staff must configure and maintain all the new devices that customers and users acquire.  Growth in IT infrastructure complexity is outpacing the ability to support it. Simply put, IT workload is increasing exponentially as staff and budgets remain flat. IT simply must work smarter instead of harder. Enter the promise of automation.  There is a good reason for this interest in automation since much of the work IT does is repetitive. Consider the potential windfall in efficiency, effectiveness, and economy made possible by integrating an actionable Service Catalog with a CMDB system for automated provisioning. For example, an executive goes to the service catalog portal and orders a BlackBerry. The ordering, status tracking, configuration, and account activation can all be done automatically if the processes are understood.  Automation is not automatic however. Without sound and documented manual processes in place, there is little hope to ever achieve real benefits automation.   What follows are some guidelines for automating IT workflow around ITIL best-practices. These tips show how almost any IT organization can find real opportunities for automation. Read article...

Automation and ITIL

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:40:52 -0400

Replacing manual work with pre-programmed machine work – automation – is all the rage today. Automation is a hot topic, but its dirty little secret is that you cannot automate something if you do not understand how it works in the first place. This critical detail makes ITIL process definition a cornerstone to success with IT Service Management (ITSM) automation.

Run Book Automation (RBA), IT Process Automation (ITPA), or simply plain old automation is at the forefront of IT operations today because of the commoditization of IT. While the cost of acquisition for new technology continues to plummet as ease of use skyrockets, technology still requires support. IT operations staff must configure and maintain all the new devices that customers and users acquire.
Growth in IT infrastructure complexity is outpacing the ability to support it.

Simply put, IT workload is increasing exponentially as staff and budgets remain flat. IT simply must work smarter instead of harder – enter the promise of automation.

There is a good reason for this interest in automation since much of the work IT does is repetitive. Consider the potential windfall in efficiency, effectiveness, and economy made possible by integrating an actionable Service Catalog with a CMDB system for automated provisioning. For example, an executive goes to the Service Catalog portal and orders a BlackBerry. The ordering, status tracking, configuration, and account activation can all be done automatically – if the processes are understood.

Automation is not automatic however. Without sound and documented manual processes in place, there is little hope to ever achieve real benefits automation. Following are some guidelines for automating IT workflow around ITIL best practices. These tips show how almost any IT organization can find real opportunities for automation. Read article...

ITSM: What it is and what it isn’t

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 20:21:02 -0400

ITSM stands for Information Technology Service Management. The goal of ITSM is simple: help managers produce the most efficient, effective, economic, and equitable IT Organization (ITO) possible. ITSM seeks to manage and organize IT workflow in the best possible manner within the unique constraints the ITO operates within.   ITSM is a science, a philosophy, and a management approach. As a management approach, the goals of ITSM are to holistically control the ITO. Since ITO’s deliver services to the business that underpin the ability of the business to compete or carry out its mission IT leaders must think about the product of the entire ITO, not just a single workgroup or technology. ITSM transforms the ITO from cost-center to business partner, from gatekeeper to business enabler.   As a philosophy, the goals of ITSM are to base improvement, organization, metrics, and execution of strategic, tactical and operational decisions within a context of customer orientation. The ITO becomes consumer or customer driven, just like any other service provider organization. ITSM puts the consumer relationship first, by switching the emphasis from a technology centered approach and philosophy to one of customer service.
 As a science, ITSM has recommendations, standards, and frameworks. Much like other management sciences, there are also several tools available to the manager. Common ITSM tools include COBIT, ITIL, Six Sigma, TQM, Business Process Management, and others. ITSM also has certifications for workers, managers, and entire organizations.
 The over-arching goal of ITSM is to:
• Deliver IT services that meet defined customer requirements
• Align IT operations and services with business goals and objectives
• Control costs associated with IT operations

Read article...

ITIL Version 3 and the IT Service Catalog

Mon, 6 Aug 2007 09:05:46 -0400

With ITIL Version 3, the Service Catalog has matured to become one of, if not the most important undertakings within IT.
The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) has become the de facto standard for IT service management. The new version of ITIL introduces four major changes that will dramatically affect IT and its relationship with the business - download this new analyst white paper to learn more!
ITIL Version 3 (V3) preserves and refines previous IT service management processes from ITIL V2, while introducing key new processes including:
Service Catalog Management: ITIL V3 removes the Service Catalog from Service Level Management and creates a new Service Catalog Management process. The Service Catalog is now recognized as one of the most important predicates to achieving IT service quality, business and IT alignment, and controlling IT costs.
Service Portfolio Management: The Service Portfolio – and the corresponding Service Portfolio Management process – is the “spine” that connects all of the phases of the service lifecycle. The Service Portfolio represents a superset of the services published in the Service Catalog.
Request Fulfillment: Finally, there is a process designed to optimize handling of IT service requests – the new Request Fulfillment process. Deploying an actionable Service Catalog that integrates with Request Fulfillment is one of the quickest wins on the road to IT operational excellence.
The logical starting place for ITIL adoption is to deploy a Service Catalog based on ITIL V3 guidelines. Read the paper...

Actionable CMDB Systems: How to Succeed at Your CMDB Project

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 20:26:25 -0400

The truth is that the majority of Configuration Management Database (CMDB) implementations are larger cultural, political, and technical undertakings than most organizations realize. Real-world CMDB systems often look more like a patchwork quilt than a carefully illustrated marketing glossy. But, regardless of what the final CMDB solution looks like, those who have successfully deployed CMDB systems say their success came from just a few critical undertakings that many practitioners skip – at their own peril.

With all the complexity surrounding CMDB projects, one has to wonder why there is still so much interest in CMDB. The answer is unambiguous: a well-executed CMDB project delivers measurable improvements in IT service quality, reductions in costs, and increased business/IT alignment.
An actionable CMDB is critical to success, and not designing for action virtually guarantees limited success or even project failure.

This paper establishes the real purpose and nature of an actionable CMDB and contains real-world guidance to help IT professionals at any stage of CMDB implementation – from those just starting out with planning and initial implementation to those struggling in the midst of a current project to those dealing with the aftermath of a failed project.

Read Article...

The CMDB is Dead! Long Live the CMDB!

Fri, 8 Jun 2007 20:46:07 -0400

Significantly more evolved than ITIL V2, ITIL V3 includes noteworthy modifications and enhancements. One of the most dramatic changes contained in ITIL V3 is the restructuring of the Configuration Management process into a process for managing knowledge.   ITIL V3 introduces two new management systems, redefines the term and architecture of the CMDB, expands the scope of Configuration Management, introduces new terms, and modifies existing terms.   Simply put, the ITIL V2 Configuration Management process is no longer standalone, and the term CMDB now means something significantly different.

While there are other dramatic modifications in ITIL V3 as well, given the present industry interest in Configuration Management and the CMDB, probably the largest area for confusion regarding ITIL V3 will be surrounding these two core elements of ITIL. Read article...

DOTWIMP – 7 Steps to Higher IT Performance

Tue, 5 Jun 2007 20:30:24 -0400

IT variability is the root of poor IT service quality, low customer satisfaction, employee job dissatisfaction, and ultimately loss of competitive advantage. DOTWIMP is a simple 7-step tool that addresses these issues and more.  Simply put variability is a measure of how completed tasks that are supposed to conform to a specification vary amongst each other. Variability is the enemy of quality.
IT variability is now an issue due to the increasing commoditization of IT. Simply put, more people rely on IT for more support than ever before. IT variability costs the business millions in both hard and soft costs.

IT variability increases costs unnecessarily by generating waste in seven categories: Defects, Overproduction, Transportation, Waiting, Inventory, Motion, and Processing – DOTWIMP for short.

While many IT departments actually believe that their situation is unique (it isn’t) and that IT is different than other business functions (they aren’t) the truth is that another business function suffers from DOTWIMP variability as well -- manufacturing.

In fact, the ideas around reducing variability to improve profitability arose from manufacturing, and manufacturing can teach IT a thing or two about reducing variability to improve IT service quality and reduce the costs of IT.
Lean Manufacturing is a manufacturing philosophy that shortens the timeline between the customer order and shipment by eliminating waste. DOTWIMP is a lean manufacturing construct. Lean includes three elements: flow, pull, and striving for excellence. These elements apply directly to IT – consider the previous example of simply on boarding an employee – a workflow that originates from customer demand.

Unlike Six Sigma, Lean does not necessitate complex statistical and mathematical analysis. Lean DOTWIMP is an easy to use tool that everybody at every level in IT can use. Following I use the example of a Service Catalog to show how easy Lean DOTWIMP ideas are to use to visibly improve IT service quality, and customer satisfaction. Read article...

Turning Governance into Action

Wed, 30 May 2007 20:44:14 -0400

Increasingly companies turn to frameworks such as Control Objectives for IT and related Technologies (COBIT) and the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) for business/IT alignment, audit, and control guidance.   However, COBIT and ITIL provide few directions to achieve their objectives. The lack of instructions makes it difficult for practitioners to turn governance guidance into action, and is a major source of confusion and frustration in many IT Organizations (ITOs).   IT Service Management tool vendors recognize this, and several now offer prescriptive guidance frameworks aligned with COBIT and ITIL. Now companies can use these prescriptive frameworks to fulfill ITIL process workflow in support of COBIT objectives.

Aligning business objectives (COBIT) with IT workflow (ITIL) and documented procedures used in daily operations delivers a highly functional organization that directly supports business initiatives and contributes to competitive advantage over those companies that do not.

IT and business executives have a powerful new model combining control, process, and realization. Referred to herein as “IT CPR,” this model is poised to become the de-facto method for achieving competitive advantage from IT.

Business Service Management (BSM) tools provide the management structure required to realize IT CPR. Read article...

Service Catalog and the CMDB: Partners in Improving IT Service Quality and Controlling Costs

Fri, 18 May 2007 20:37:30 -0400

A Service Catalog transforms IT assets into a portfolio of manageable business investments as it improves both user productivity and IT service quality, often with tangible cost reductions as well.   A Configuration Management Database (CMDB) provides unified access to infrastructure content and context by discovering and building relationships between assets and setting the stage for improved IT decision making.   Seldom considered is the palpable connection that links a Service Catalog to a CMDB – IT Workflow and Service Request Management. Considering the Service Catalog and CMDB as partners that work together to improve IT service quality, control IT costs, and align IT with the business can yield efficiencies and benefits neither has by itself.

It is possible to justify further expenses for either Service Catalog or CMDB projects based on the enhanced returns of their joint operation. This paper examines the case for integrating the Service Catalog and the CMDB to deliver more benefits in less time. Read article...

Service Catalog: The Path to Business IT Alignment

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 17:35:02 -0400

The IT Infrastructure Library® (ITIL®) describes the idea of a Service Catalog as a “written statement of IT services, default levels, and options.” For many years, an IT Service Catalog was simply a printed document telling users who to call for service.  However, with the increasing commoditization of IT, the concept and value of a Service Catalog is assuming a much more important role – that of unifying IT and the business.
 How can such a humble concept from such inauspicious beginnings deliver this almost mythical desire of virtually all IT leaders? It’s easy to understand if you consider what the ITIL actually describes. While the ITIL defines the term Service Catalog as a listing of the services an IT provider delivers to their customers, the real requirements are described throughout the text.

For the business, the Service Catalog then represents a menu of sorts – complete with all the options – making it easy to understand and acquire IT offerings. Many don’t realize that in addition to this business-facing view, a Service Catalog has an IT-facing view – listing all the internal IT organizational and infrastructure service requirements.

Finally, the ITIL describes a “Helicopter View” of the IT organization for senior managers. When we put these three views together and into a common context we have the basis for business/IT alignment. Read Article...

Getting started with ITIL deployment

Mon, 2 Apr 2007 11:49:10 -0400

SearchDataCenter.com interviewed me for an article.

“Organizations that equate ITIL with hiring consultants or buying software that supports ITIL are also likely to fail.
"Utterly relying on consultants and software products doesn't work," says Hank Marquis, managing partner and CTO of itSM Solutions, a Lexington, N.C.-based consulting firm that specializes in IT service management.

"Successfully implementing ITIL requires leadership skills." Marquis likens the typical data center's leadership style to a communistic approach in which staffers respond to instructions issued down from on high. That won't work with ITIL.

"Data center people will implement ITIL because they want to do it, not because they are told to do it," he says. That requires a certain amount of education and hand-holding.
Start implementing ITIL with processes, not products.

Read the article here...

BMC Announces Alignment with CobiT

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:47:44 -0400

On March 13, 2007, BMC announced alignment of their BSM solutions with COBIT (Control Objectives for IT and Related Technologies).   Previously BMC had aligned BSM with ITIL (the Information Technology Infrastructure Library). In their COBIT announcement, BMC stresses how COBIT and ITIL together, underpinned with supporting BSM software, provides a sound governance framework for IT.   This alignment of BSM with COBIT and ITIL should help to move BMC to the forefront of IT governance and control offerings. This alignment makes it easier for BMC’s IT customers to justify IT initiatives as well as day-to-day actions, and easier for business and non-technical leaders to understand the value of IT. Read article...

7 Habits of Highly Defective Practitioners

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 17:42:57 -0400

I have uncovered 7 bad habits that lie at the root of all IT Management Failure! Well, if not all failures enough for the majority of the organizational problems I see.   But you can break a bad habit and form a new one in just 21 days. If you work in IT Service Management long enough, you begin to see some patterns. Recently I worked with two very large multi-national/global organizations who both suffered from the same problem.

It reminded me of a popular self-help book that talked about habits and how to form and re-form them.

In one case, they had gone off on a “CobiT” hunt; and in another they were in the throes of an “ITIL hunt.” In both cases they had made a couple of classic mistakes that I have seen over and over again in the pursuit of IT Service Management excellence.

I’m not going to try and determine why these bad habits arise, but I do know how to recognize them.

Following, I describe the 7 habits of highly defective practitioners so that when you embark on a “hunt” you will be successful. Read Article...

CMDB Stories: Where to Begin, or Begin with the End In Mind

Tue, 6 Mar 2007 20:34:26 -0500

With all the hype and press currently surrounding the IT Infrastructure Library® (ITIL®) Configuration Management Database (CMDB) it is no surprise that there is confusion on the part of many practitioners as to how to implement Configuration Management.

I have worked with many such companies, each struggling with Configuration Management. Most often the main issue they face is “where to begin.” Establishing a starting point for Configuration Management is difficult since the idea of a CMDB can be hard to grasp.

Simply put, a CMDB is a meta-database, or a database or databases. In other words, a CMDB stores data about other databases and how they interrelate. This single point is what causes much consternation over establishing a CMDB and the Configuration Management process.

By way of an example from my own experience, following is the story of establishing Configuration Management at a county government IT department. The county is significant, and has an annual IT budget of about $35,000,000. They decided to embark on the ITIL journey in order to “do more for more with less” – a very common mandate from all IT sectors, not just government. The lessons presented in this story are appropriate for any IT organization embarking on the ITIL CMDB journey. Read article...

Sell ITIL to the Suits in 6 Steps

Fri, 2 Mar 2007 07:58:31 -0500

Business people don't speak IT, but you can sell them on the IT Infrastructure Library by speaking business.  Even though the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) primarily benefits the business, it remains an IT thing. Even well-educated non-IT executives often don’t understand what ITIL represents. Don’t believe me? Next time you bump into the CFO in the elevator, try relaying the benefits of your Component Failure Impact Assessment!  Since business people don't speak IT, we have to learn to speak business. ITIL contains some real gems about how to engage the business to fund our (IT) projects and plans. It describes the Continuous Service Improvement Program (CSIP) and stakeholders: any individual or group with an interest or “stake” in IT or the CSIP.  We know IT stakeholders, but do you know stakeholders outside of IT? Outside of the company? These stakeholders can have positive or negative impact as well. In truly understanding your stakeholders, you discover how to sell ITIL to the top. You may find the most powerful allies for justifying ITIL are not inside IT, or even your company; nor will their impact always be positive. For example, in most public companies the CEO must comply with Sarbanes-Oxley; the Controller/CFO must work with auditors; the VP of IT must align IT operations support the audit; making the auditor a critical stakeholder!  Here is a six-point plan you can begin implementing today for next to no cost that will help you “sell ITIL to the Top.” Read Article...

Future CMDB

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:59:13 -0500

ITSM Industry powerhouses have stopped fighting and are now working together. They recently released a joint white paper describing how they plan to work together to solve the thorniest CMDB technological hurdles.  Anyone who has read this column over time knows that I think a CMDB is more of a knowledge management system that an IT Asset Manager (ITAM). In previous issues I described how a CMDB solution, as a knowledge management system, has to federate data from many sources.  Federation is basically collecting data from many heterogeneous sources including many systems and network management platforms, log files, server files, router data, etc. The issue with federation is simple: every vendor has their own interface -- if they have an interface at all.

While CTO of Opticom, an ITSM software provider, our greatest technical hurtle was connecting to the diverse range of systems, collecting data stored in many formats, and then rationalizing that data to our own internal format.

My experience is not unique. Any vendor or practitioner about to embark on a CMDB creation project quickly runs smack into the brick wall that is federation. But the future holds promise.

A white paper release this week from BMC, CA, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, and Microsoft details how these powerhouse vendors plan to provide a common interface for CMDB products specifically for the purpose of federation.

Following I give my analysis of what I think this announcement really means to us average IT people trying to "do ITIL". Read Article...

Availability Management in Action

Thu, 1 Feb 2007 18:04:03 -0500

Availability Management intimidates many new practitioners, and they often leave it to last or skip it altogether. This is too bad, because even without a formal ITIL program, Availability Management can yield dramatic results, as one of my clients, a major University, found out...

Lots of people get intimidated by the math and scope of Availability Management. It is too bad, because you can get quite a few quick wins by applying some simple Availability Management techniques.

I am going to illustrate this by describing the story of a University that I worked with. They used Availability Management to take back control of their infrastructure.

The University had issues of availability with one of their underpinning contracts (UC) with a telecom provider. They kept losing service. They would open an incident, which would invariably close as “no trouble found” or “came clear while testing” in a few days. They were simply not able to get the attention of the service provider.

Then they became aware of availability management, took some action, and not only got their issues resolved, but got some cash back in the process. Once again, actually getting benefits from ITIL “ain't sexy” but “it sure is valuable.”

Based on my personal experience, following I describe how a major University was able to improve quality and reduce costs through focused application of the basic ITIL concept of Availability Management. Read Article...