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Control Charts

In the 1920’s while working at ATT Bell labs, Dr Walter Shewhart (mentor of W Edwards Deming) sought a way to improve telephone transmission systems. Seeking to reduce variations and failures, on May 16, 1924 Dr Shewhart wrote an internal memo introducing the concept of the control chart [Wikipedia]. Today the control chart (AKA process quality control chart or Shewhart chart) has become the standard statistical tool for finding variation that lead to continual improvement. As with other continual improvement tools, the control chart can be understood in a short time, yet takes a lifetime to master as a truly powerful tool for statistical and incremental improvements. The control chart is a tool that tells us whether a process or system is in a state of statistical control. The state of statistical control is one in which a minimum or acceptable amount of variation is acceptable while still meeting the desired output of the process. Shewhart recognized that every process and sys

How Do You See ITIL?

As with most things, ITIL® can be viewed from multiple perspectives. I have found that many people seem to take a polarized view of the set of best practices. They either see ITIL® from a very literal, functional and operational focus or they see ITIL® from a more figurative, conceptual and strategic perspective. The interesting thing about ITIL® is that it is both of those things and everything in between all at the same time! After spending many years reading, thinking, teaching and using ITIL® I have found that one of its greatest benefits is its flexibility. The set of best practices can be seen from strategic, tactical and operational perspectives. In addition it is my firm belief that to be a true expert in the best practices one must be able to think at all three of those levels at the same! Because ITIL® takes a lifecycle approach (cradle to grave for the life of a service) it operates very strategically. Because ITIL® provides a set of processes for achieving value fo

Keeping People Engaged

One of the most important questions we can ask in ITSM is “How do we keep people engaged and excited about ITSM?” This question is fraught with danger. If too little energy is put into keeping people engaged then ITSM has a chance of withering and dying. If too much energy is put into the people aspect then other important efforts gets sacrificed. So how do we find the right balance? How do we know what is the right level of energy to employ in an effort to keep ITSM on a steady path for your organization? The answer lies in the concept of engagement. The term means to hold the attention or efforts of a person. To keep people engaged we must therefore keep everyone involved, active and attentive to ITSM in our organizations. How do we keep people engaged? By giving them new opportunities to learn, demonstrate capabilities and new challenges to overcome. We can provide new areas for exploration and engagement by using process and maturity assessments to identify current levels of

The Meaning of IT

What does the IT in ITIL® stand for? This question may seem easy to answer. The IT stands for “information technology”. But what does that really mean? Is there more than one way to answer the question of what the IT in ITIL® means? I believe there are more than one context or meaning for IT and we must be aware of the distinct meanings. Let’s take a look at some of the ideas or concepts behind IT. ·         IT as “information technology” : This most basic use of IT refers to the physical and technological pieces and components made up of electronics and operating/machine software. E.g. A desktop computer is IT as “information technology”. ·        IT as “management information systems (MIS)” : Computerized components that are used to manage, control and govern information used to run a business or organization. E.g. A customer relationship management system is IT as “MIS”. ·          IT as “collection of applications and infrastructure” : This umbrella use of IT encom

Reference Models

In 1999 the US Federal Government took a step toward improving the quality, performance, delivery and support of IT-based services. This step was the creation of the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF).  This framework consists of five reference models. A reference model is an abstract or logical framework or structure that describes the interconnections between ideas, concepts, elements or components that make up a whole system. We can look to the FEAF reference models as a guide for how we might approach an ITSM implementation regardless of industry or organizational structure. Performance Reference Model : Used to measure the performance of major IT investments  This equates to a CSI or Metrics Program  Business Reference Model : Process-driven structure that describe business operations regardless of the organization that performs them This equates to a Service Portfolio framework Services Reference Model : Classification of service components an

Service Measurement

Before my life as an ITSM professor, I was responsible for delivering the monthly reports on IT at a large specialty retailer organization with multiple remote locations in several states across America.   I delivered many of the standard reports for Service Desk, Change Management and System Availability.   System availability was a standard report that reviewed from a system / hardware perspective just how available the systems and their supporting components were throughout the month.   This was delivered in percentages and the goal was to maintain 100% infrastructure availability. Even though many of the individual systems and components were meeting their required SLAs, our customers were still not satisfied with the availability and performance of critical services.   W e needed to re-address what should we be measuring and how should we be reporting achievements back to the business and customers. W e decided to report on the end to end delivery of our services and the a

The Myth of Metrics

The world record for the 100 meter dash is 9.58 seconds. The world record for the mile is 3 minutes 43 seconds. The record for running a marathon is 2 hours and 3 minutes. The 100 meter freestyle swimming record is 44 seconds. The world land speed record is 760 miles per hour (1223 KmH).   And the list goes on and on. So what do these records have to do with ITSM? First these records are metrics: results of measurements. They measure the performance of processes (structured steps or actions undertaken to achieve an objective) and indicate the level of performance of people and vehicles doing the process. Second these data points reveal the myth of metrics. This myth is the belief that a person or organization can pick a data point or metric (desired result) before doing a process and through sheer willpower or force of action achieve that point. For example a person could not pick a time such as one (1) hour and say they are going to run a full length marathon in one hour. The only w