In an earlier blog I had talked about the need for organizations to have the ability to measure their processes against those of their competition or some defined industry standard.  Before that could happen, it had to be determined if your processes are mature enough to ensure that you can gather the needed data for a successful undertaking.   If your assessment calls for developing a new process, reengineering or improving an existing process a sound methodology for that mission could be the “Ten process design and improvement steps” as describe in “The ITSM Process Design Guide by Donna Knapp. The elegance of this approach is that it can be utilized to design or improve any process regardless of maturity level.   It provides the common vocabulary, tools, and techniques needed to engage all participants who would be required for these process and improvement actions.   They help to define and understand the end to end process, who the customers are and their requirements.   It a

In part one of this topic we discussed the “dynamic” needs of business and also discussed how we the service provider must be “agile” to meet those dynamic needs.  Understanding of course that none of that can be done without the support of “processes and technology” and the best practices that enable them.  In part two of “Agile_ITSM – Ingredients for Success” I would like to discuss the most important ingredient for the success of all service providers: people.   People People with their skills, their diversity, their productivity and innovation are at the heart of agility and speed to deliver quality in a world where business needs and demand are dynamic. Empowerment! Trust the intentions of your people.  We have to be careful not to hobble the productivity with micro management of staff members and their effort.  When considering trust, it is not just a matter of whether a single member of the team or workgroup is trustworthy but do you trust that the team will

Dynamic We the service provider must meet the “dynamic needs of the business”! Someone recently asked me “What does that mean exactly?”   If that is what we are all chasing after and that is what we as service providers must understand and meet, then what is it?! The business demand for speed and productivity is not decreasing in any way.  The dictionary definition of “dynamic” is: Always active or changing Having or showing a lot of energy of or relating to energy, motion, or physical force This would mean that the needs of the business are constantly changing.   We can attest to that in our own experience.   So the question really becomes  "  How do we quickly adapt to that need?" Agile Being agile would mean that we are flexible so that we can adapt to change. We have to start looking at the provisioning of a service as a consumption cycle. Products are produced but a service is consumed.   Once consumed the demand for that service will incre

Most executives understand that a business’ performance is only significant when it is benchmarked against its competitors.   As an accepted business best practice it is expected that the functioning of an individual organization will be measured against other like type organizations. This practice of benchmarking oneself against competitors should be no different for any IT organization.   There can be no better instrument to utilize then benchmarking to insure whether the IT operation is providing a competitive product.   Without this peer to peer comparison it would be difficult at best to define if IT’s performance is weak, competitive or an industry leader. Of course in order to benchmark you must first determine are my processes mature enough to ensure that I can gather the significant data needed for this undertaking.  If not then your resources would be better utilized in first assessing your processes maturity through tools such as the ITIL Process Maturity Framework (PMF

I recently published a blog that explained the Theory of Constraints.  In his book “ The Phoenix Project “, Gene Kim  leverages the Theory of Constraints and the knowledge learned in production environments to describe the underlying principles of the DevOps movement in three ways. The First Way  Workflow!  The first way is all about workflow or the flow of work from left to right. Generally referring to that flow of work between the business and the customer.  Work that is flowing from development to test and then test to operation teams is really only work in process.  Work in process really does not equate to anything until value is realized on the other side.  We must identify and remove or free up our constraints. For example, reducing the cycle from time of code commit to the time we are in production will reduce the release cadence. Ensuring the workflow from left to right can radically increase workflow throughout the delivery cycle.  Define work and make it visible.

There is often confusion between the goals, authorities and roles of Change and Release Management.  In fact, the objectives of each of process are very, very different. Change rules! Change Management is an authoritative process that governs anything that potentially impacts a new or existing service.  It is both the enabler of innovation and protector of stability.   It is first and foremost a risk management process.   It is also a planning process.   If Change Management is a governance process, Release Management is an action process.  Under the authority of Change, Release builds, tests and releases new or updated services into the production environment.  Every release is comprised of a single change or package of changes.  Release Management is more technical than Change. If done well, both processes will avoid unnecessary levels of bureaucracy and will build a collection of change and release models that pre-define and pre-approve the rigor required based on levels

Do you assume that all IT service management programs must adhere to the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL)?    In truth, there are several other frameworks available and efforts underway.     Most are variations of or are rooted in ITIL but may apply to a specific environment or context.   Some are very comprehensive, while others advocate a “lighter” approach.    A service lifecycle is an ongoing theme.    None are meant to be highly prescriptive. Which is right for you?   Of course the answer is “it depends” on your goals, resources and business models.   To meet the needs of organizations that were overwhelmed by the enormity of the 2000+ pages of the IT Infrastructure Library, renowned ITSM expert Malcolm Fry published “ITIL Lite”.   This approach  makes service management more realistic for organizations with fewer resources by focusing on the essentials.        ITIL Lite is an official ITIL publication.   ( http://www.theitillitebook.com ). For years, Microsoft has  also