My students often ask about new advances in Knowledge Management. While Knowledge Management is not a new topic, it seems that there are still many challenges in implementing and managing this important process. I was discussing this topic with an academic colleague last week, Dr. Stuart Diaz Galup of Florida Atlantic University. He explained that "Knowledge Management" is often confused with "Information Management". I thought that was a very astute observation. According to ITIL V3, "information" puts data in context; "knowledge" adds experience, ideas, insights and value to information. So how can organizations evolve into managing "knowledge" instead of "information? Dr. Galup's observation brought me back to thinking about social networking and Knowledge Management. The introduction and acceptance of Wikis ( wikipedia ) has encouraged collaborative knowledge in that individuals can contribute their expertise to create or u

One of the most important tools in the toolbox for implementing Service Management is “ The Question ”. Effective questioning can help make both a new and existing implementation more successful. Good questioning techniques take practice and knowledge like many other skills. It can take years to move questioning from a skill to a talent. But learning how to ask and answer questions is a valuable instrument. Questions go beyond just the closed (specific answer) and open (subjective or broad answer). Questions can fall into several other categories and each should be approached in different ways: INDUCTIVE : there are designed to aggregate information and will be used effectively in Incident Management; Problem Management and Change Management. How do a set of Incidents correlate? DEDUCTIVE : these are designed to break down or decompose information and will be used effectively in Problem Management and Service Level Management. What are the elements that make up an existing service? ABD

One of the questions I am often asked is, "How do we calculate the Return on Investment (ROI) of our ITIL Implementation". This week, a new case study was introduced covering: ROI Calculator Case Study Synopsis Traditionally, ROI and TCO are touted by software companies as a means to sell software. Many of us have become hardened to these calculations, as experience has show they were grossly over-inflated. To help combat this, in 2006, ITSM Academy shared a realistic, un-biased ROI calculator which enables users to estimate potential costs savings of: Incident Management Availability Management Unplanned Work Existing calculations can be easily tailored to produce similar process area calculations. Case Study Synopsis The case study also includes a collection of 25 published ROI statements and stories, broken out by industry type. The following is one of the quotes: "An ITIL program at Capital One resulted in a 30% reduction in system crashes and software-distribution

Allow me to introduce myself - I am Professor Wise, the ITSM Professor. I have committed my academic research to IT Service Management including ITIL, ISO/IEC 20000, Microsoft Operations Framework, and other resources. As I discover interesting and relevant concepts within best practices frameworks and standards, I will highlight them with you through this blog. I will also share insight and practical applications from organizations and individuals who are implementing and improving their Service Management processes. And I also encourage you to join in the conversation. I want this to be a positive place for sharing IT Service Management tips, tricks, challenges, and successes. Please email me at itsmprofessor@itsmacademy.com . I will add your question to the blog. Happy Reading!