How to Increase IT’s Value to the Business

Does scale matter? How much has the company grown since I started this job? How much does the company plan to grow in the future? What still works in the way I do my job if the company is much bigger? Which things about how I do my job don’t work if the company is…

The 5 Key Reasons Why Initiatives Fail

Someone on Twitter recently asked me, “What are the 5 main reasons IT Service Management projects fail.” I really didn’t have to give it much thought. After 30 years practicing ITSM the reasons are pretty much top of mind. So I quickly rattled off the following: No plan Unrealistic expectations Skepticism Poor requirements Not doing…

ITIL Processes are No Panacea

What are you really trying to do with IT service management (ITSM) Are you focused on aligning your organization with ITIL or some other framework; or are you concentrating on process improvement? Too often I see the two confused; with ITIL alignment mistaken for process improvement instead of being treated as one tool in the…

5 Ways HP Cut Costs and Fostered Innovation

HP is a massive company that has been around for a very long time. Over the years, it has acquired a vast number of companies including such IT players as Compaq, Digital Equipment Corp, EDS 3Com, Palm and 3PAR. Those acquisitions continue today at a rapid pace. In that light, it’s perhaps not surprising that…

5 Ways HP Cut Costs and Fostered Innovation

Moving to the cloud A big part of the strategy was to harness the latest technologies while implementing a raft of cloud based applications to ease application management. Cloud computing plays a major role in IT planning. One big driver of the move to the cloud was application sprawl. Mott said that when an inventory…

3 Approaches to Building Your CMS

A fully operationally and mature configuration management system (CMS) can be a tremendous help to your organization’s support and service delivery departments. Among its many benefits, your organization will be able to manage and assess risk; isolate the source and root cause of problems quicker; and gain a deeper understanding of the impact of service…

3 Approaches to Building Your CMS

Cons: Complexity of the information can be overwhelming if the collection criteria is ill-defined; Requires a complex, often expensive, tool to systematically collect and maintain the information; Application focus is still very IT-centric, may not lead to service transformation; and Tends to lead to over-architecting the CMS, making it difficult to maintain. The tactical-technology-focused approach…

3 Approaches to Building Your CMS

Three additional things to consider Support and supported processes – To ensure CMS integrity and accuracy, a mature and effective change management capability must be integrated with a service asset and configuration management process to guarantee the CMS data is controlled and verified whenever changes are made. To maximize CMS value, don’t lose sight of…

The 4 Principles of a Successful Data Strategy

Many Fortune 500 companies are recognizing enterprise data as a strategic business asset. Leading companies are using troves of operational data to optimize their processes, create intelligent products, and delight their customers. Also, increased demands for regulatory transparency are forcing companies to capture and maintain an audit trail of the information they use in their…

The 4 Principles of a Successful Data Strategy

Ques. No. 3: What is our data ecosystem? – For most businesses, data is an active asset that is captured, created, enhanced, and used in many business processes and applications. To manage this dynamic environment, the flows of data across systems and processes need to be organized in a coherent way. We use a business…