For every system that is utilized to provide a service, there are four dimensions of service management. If we are to think and work holistically that means that every practice, and every aspect of service management for services need to be considered in light of these four dimensions. Organizations and People The aspects of the organization and people dimension are all related to the creation, delivery, and improvement of services. To improve these aspects, everyone in an organization must understand its objectives and how they contribute to those objectives. It is not uncommon to see organizations restructuring in an effort to reap the benefits of Agile, Lean, and DevOps practices. Organizations are increasingly forming cross-functional teams or product teams in an effort to break down silos and enable more effective collaboration. None of this can be accomplished without understanding how powerful the culture is in terms of its influence on organizations and individuals. Fo

The ITIL4 Best Practice Guidance defines a “Service Offering” as a description of one or more services designed to address the needs of a target customer or group .   As a service provider, we can’t stop there!   We must know what the contracts of our service offering are and be able to put them into context as required by the customer.     Let’s explore the three elements that comprise a Service Offering. A “Service Offering” may include:     Goods, Access to Resources, and Service Actions Goods – When we think of “Goods” within a service offering these are the items where ownership is transferred to the consumer and the consumer takes responsibility for the future use of these goods.   Example of goods that are being provided in the offering – If this is a hotel service then toiletries or chocolates are yours to take with you.   You the consumer own these and they are yours to take with you.               Note: Goods may not always be provided for every Service Offe

Digital and Cultural transformation is survival.   Every living breathing moving service provider today is challenged to innovate and radically rethink the way that they deliver value.   All services that create value are supported by technology.   Creating, expanding, and improving IT Service Management is not only beneficial but is critical for our future.   ITIL 4 has improved upon and modernized an approach to service management with proven best practices that support a systems approach to the entire value system.   As service providers, we must be able not only to deliver a product at the speed of light but must also be capable of ensuring a resilient and anti-fragile environment. These improved-upon best practices for all aspects of service management give organizations the ability to balance the need for stability and operational agility with increased velocity. Shatter the silos, get real support from your DevOps, Agile, and Lean investment .   Ensure service managem

I was recently asked about VeriSM and ITIL4, and how they fit together... VeriSM aims to elevate service management to the enterprise level. Like ITIL 4, it advocates leveraging Agile, Lean, DevOps, ITSM, etc. as needed to achieve enterprise goals. It also emphasizes understanding emerging technologies and their influence on business and service management. VeriSM introduces the management mesh as a way to bring those concepts together and determine what is required to achieve organizational goals. As the focus is on enterprise service management, the aim is to take service management principles and concepts out of IT and extend them to other parts of the enterprise; specifically in the context of digital transformation. VeriSM introduces a value chain but does not introduce any specific service management processes. ITIL 4 also aligns with Agile, Lean, DevOps, SIAM, etc., and aims to modernize IT service management in an effort to enable digital transformation. To quote the book,

If your organization hasn’t adopted DevOps approaches yet, it probably will soon. In the InteropITX 2018 State of DevOps Report , only 9 percent of the business technology decision-makers surveyed said that their organizations had no DevOps plans. A third said their organizations had already adopted DevOps principles and another 46 percent had plans to do so within the next two years. As DevOps spreads, many IT leaders have questions about which types of employees should get basic training on the fundamentals of the approach. We recommend that at least the following ten types of people get a foundational education about DevOps: 1. Developers In many organizations, DevOps begins with the application development team adopting Agile methodologies. DevOps begins to spread as those in the operations team start to follow some of the same principles. 2. IT operations professionals DevOps is all about closer integration between development and operations, so it stands to r

The opportunity exists to reinvent security and to do this we must redefine the roles and practices of security engineering. Information is available faster than the speed of your connection and cybersecurity risk is everywhere!  Empowerment to change begins with getting level set on what DevSecOps (DSOE) really is and how to move fast to get there.  That is why I am excited to attend the  DevSecOps Engineering  class and to acquire the DevSecOps Engineer certification!  Digital Transformations are not only real, they are accelerating. IT systems and software literally drive the world and that makes every business a digital tech business. Along with that is a proliferation of apps, devices and opportunities. Those opportunities are not always honorable; hackers abound. DevSecOps is a mindset that “everyone is responsible for security” with the goal of safely distributing security decisions at speed and scale to those who hold the highest level of context without sacrificing

T’was a month before Christmas on the pipeline, not a heart was beating not even mine. For the product owner there is work to be “DONE”, so into the “Sprint Log” the work has begun! ­­­­ On Dasher! On Prancer (Development Deer) - QA and Security, they are all here. Red hats worn by all and only one “White”; The teams almost ready, so don’t you fright. When what to my wondering eyes should appear, a massive build from the Ops Engineer! This today, that tomorrow, “Fail Fast” and learn there is no sorrow! Ho Ho Ho! A jolly Scrum Master appears; impediments removed we all give a cheer! Ops leads the way with their nose shining bright; we are agile and fast and we’re out of site! Off with a flash, then “deer-to-deer” review”; here comes the surprise, it's coming to YOU. We stand all amazed and straight is our gaze.  The Christmas tree stands all tall and bright; its branches are massive and covered with lights!  On top is a star that streams long bright bars