Respond more quickly to urgent business needs and incidents while simultaneously providing stable, secure and predictable IT services, despite the fact that the systems on which the business operates are typically fragile and hostile to change.   Sound familiar?   Improving operational reliability and communications between ITSM functions and processes begins at the Service desk. I have to quote a coworker of mine at this point “All things flow through incident management”.   The service desk is the eyes and the ears of the IT organization.   If you think about it and utilize the service desk from both an operational and tactical perspective , ensuring that all of the other ITSM processes and functions are feeding accurate and up to date information and data that the service desk needs, they can become the glue that that binds the entire organization together in alignment with both IT and strategic business   goals.   A single great process alone cannot deliver as much value to th

Too often I encounter learners who struggle with the concept of governance. This idea does not need to be difficult to understand nor to implement. The idea of governance is based on an older idea known as "rule of law". This idea arose in the Enlightenment and has driven modern civilized society ever since. The understanding of the rule of law is that everyone (people and businesses) is subject to rules and regulations that keep mankind from descending into chaos and anarchy. Governance is simply the modern terminology for this concept. Other terms we use in this same sense are "management" and "control". Governance at its heart has two basic forms. The first is Governance ("Big G"). This is the type of governance whereby established ruling entities (governments and/or lawmakers and/or courts) create rules, regulations and policies (statements of intention or expectation) to keep us all from going crazy and destroying each other. We exper

It’s one of my favorite times of year…time for us to get ‘ United through Service ,’ which is this year’s theme for National Customer Service Week, according to the International Customer Service Association. National Customer Service Week (NCSW), held October 7-11 in 2013, is designed to raise awareness of customer service and the vital role it plays within an organization. It is also an opportunity to say thank you to those who work in customer service for a job well done. Organizations take part in NCSW by hosting events in their workplace.  These events can be large or small, serious or fun, they can be held all through the week or just on one day…. It's up to each organization to decide how to celebrate. Many organizations use this week as an opportunity to provide training and refocus the efforts of their staff on the needs of their customers. In IT, a common misconception is that the Service Desk is responsible for customer satisfaction because of its role

Last week, we discussed the value of having well-rounded knowledge of ITIL, ITSM, Organizational Change and Business Management in preparation for and after the Managing Across the Lifecycle (MALC) course and certification. Here is the continuation of my recommended books.  As a lifelong learner, I am always looking for new works.   Please feel free to make additional suggestions via comments to this blog.   Part 2: Recommended Reading Who Moved my Cheese? by Spencer Johnson The E Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters The Balanced Scorecard: Transforming Strategy in Action by Robert Kaplan and David Norton Good to Great by Jim Collins Competitive Advantage by Michael Porter Competitive Strategy by Michael Porter Reengineering the Corporation by Michael Hammer and James Champy Reengineering Management by Michael Hammer and James Champy Principles of Scientific Management by Frederick Winslow Taylor First,

As a follow up to my recent discussion on the differences between being a ‘student’ and being a ‘learner’, I thought it would be useful to provide a somewhat comprehensive list of readings and source material to help those who are heading into and/or beyond the pinnacle of their ITIL learning journey—Managing Across the Lifecycle (MALC).  Preparing for MALC requires a deep level of commitment, beginning with a sound understanding of the five ITIL core books.    To truly be an ITIL/ITSM Expert, you should develop some complementary skills in Organizational Change Management, Business/IT Management and other ITSM frameworks and standards?   While it is unreasonable to expect a learner to complete all of these readings as part of their MALC preparation, the spirit here is to recommend a versatile business view that will serve you before, during and after you become an ITIL Expert.    The road doesn't end at MALC - lifelong learning habits will keep your knowledge and perspectiv

The Service Desk of the Future Complimentary Webinar Join us on Thursday, October 17th at 11am (Eastern) Panelists: Donna Knapp, ITSM Academy, Curriculum Development Manager Every aspect of the service desk has changed in recent years: people, processes, and technology; the use of data, information, and knowledge; and, perhaps most dramatically, users. Today’s technology users are increasingly savvy and self-sufficient. In this session, we explore the strategies companies are using to address trends like social support, mobile support, self-service and self-help, BYOD, and cloud computing.  Attendee will also participate in a debate about the role of the service desk in the future and walk away a checklist of considerations to consult when developing future-state road map for their own service desks.

Are you a student or a learner? We do not often stop to think about the labels that society applies to us during our everyday lives. However, the roles we play and the labels we apply can be very reflective of how we see the world and how we react to the environment around us. Such is the case of the roles or labels of ‘student’ and ‘learner’. So what do these labels mean and which one is the proper one to apply at a given time? The role of student is one that has to do with skills and competencies. The role of learner has to do with passion and curiosity. Students are time-bound; learners are life-long. We associate students to curriculums, objectives and expectations. We associate learners to awareness, visions and desires. Students sit in classrooms; learners inhabit the world. Students gain through education and training; learners gain through experience and inspiration. So which is the right role to play or label to wear? Well, both are correct and are not mutually exclu