ITIL Practitioner level is being developed to help organizations and individuals increase the value they obtain from using ITIL by offering additional practical guidance to adopt and adapt the framework to support the business. It will be the next step after ITIL Foundation for professionals who have already learned the basics of IT Service Management (ITSM) and the business value of well-designed and delivered services.
Addressing the demand from ITSM practitioners and organizations of all sizes worldwide, the first ITIL Practitioner exam will be available globally by the end of 2015 and will equip ITSM professionals with added practical guidance to enhance leveraging ITIL in line with their organizations’ business goals.
Key points of ITIL Practitioner
Providing practical guidance on how individuals can leverage Continual Service Improvement (CSI) to maximize the benefits of adoption and adaption of ITIL.
Aiming to improve the capability of individuals throughout the business, to adopt and adapt ITIL in their day-to-day roles to generate maximum business benefits.
Making use of technological capabilities, such as automation, real-time reporting and Cloud computing, to increase the quality of service design and the efficiency of service delivery.
Leveraging other frameworks and good practices and methodologies – such as Lean, DevOps, Agile and SIAM – to further enhance the value of ITSM.
There is a well known saying that describes the difference between a specialist and a generalist?
A specialist knows more and more about less and less until eventually he or she knows everything about nothing.
A generalist knows less and less about more and more until eventually he or she knows nothing about everything.
So let’s compare the Specialist with the Generalist?
Specialists typically make more money because they are seen as IT Service Management Subject Matter Experts who are sought after for the value they can deliver.
Specialists get famous faster for the contribution they make to the IT Service Management community and body of knowledge.
Clients trust Specialists more as they have proven experience and credentials that back up previous projects that have been successfully delivered.
Specialists develop deeper skills because they correctly identify which skills will be in demand 2-3 years ahead of need and get involved in the early adopter phase of new initiatives e.g. ServiceNow “Outside the Walls”
Generalists are seen as individuals who are adept at understanding the wider context and what the Business aims to achieve. It is perceived that generalists are better at putting the pieces together to make sense of how it all works so that they are better able to navigate uncertainty.
One way to think of a world of specialists, according to Vikram Mansharamani all the specialist content in the world is meaningless without putting it in the proper context — and that context tends to be provided by generalists. A great generalist’s breadth of knowledge helps link new breakthroughs and technologies to existing ideas.
“Fundamentally, we’re focused on learning animals or generalists as opposed to specialists. And the main reason is that when you’re in a dynamic industry where the conditions are changing so fast, then things like experience and the way you’ve done a role before isn’t nearly as important as your ability to think.
So generalists, not specialists, is a mantra that we have internally that we try to stick pretty closely to. Specialists tend to bring an inherent bias to a problem, and they often feel threatened by new solutions.” LINK
It is generally accepted that new ideas and innovation are the result of connectedness and collaboration across a wide body of knowledge that is not limited to a particular area of specialisation.
Looking ahead a combination of knowledgeable specialists and generalists is required to help shape the future direction of the practice for the benefit of all practitioners for example the itSMFBig4 Agenda item Service Management of the Future for the benefit of practitioners at all levels.
What is driving the introduction of the new ITIL Practitioner qualification given that it introduces a new exam in an already congested certification scheme such that a new Training Navigator is required?
The 2014 ITIL exam results LINK to PDF to view table above indicate that we may have reached saturation point for ITIL examinations.
I have been at several events where I am consistently told that we were told to complete ITIL Foundation training.
I will never forget the animated CIO who told me that “We do ITIL” because he had sent 500 individuals across the globe on ITIL Foundation training.
What do I think is the ITIL Practitioner qualification Revenue Opportunity?
Axelos is working on an Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme which will create and establish lifelong personal brand value by enabling individuals to stay current in their knowledge and protect the investment they have made in the AXELOS Global Best Practice qualifications.
Global delivery will continue to be overseen by global strategic partners and Axelos recently announced that the big six Examination Institutes (EIs) APMG, BCS, CSME, EXIN, LOYALIST, PEOPLECERT have extended their contracts for a further three years from January 2015.
This video clip describes the all in $250 price for the ITIL Foundation Course & ITIL Exam Bundle linked to LOYALIST Certification Services.
The new ITIL Practitioner qualification must be immersive so that virtual study groups can be formed to discuss and agree Continual Service Improvement plans that deliver quick wins and chart the 60, 90, 180 day view.
These virtual study teams will connect via Mobile App, e-Learning, Simulation, Gamification and SocMedia.
My rough order of magnitude estimate for 2016, when the new ITIL Practitioner qualification is introduced, is a conservative 200,000 individuals will take the exam so if the ATOs have designed a low cost offering yet charge a £600 combined course and exam bundle that equates to a £120M training market just for one new course.
So metrics drive behaviours and maximizing training revenues is the key driver for Axelos growth plans which is OK as long as the IT Service Management community profit for contributing their ideas, know how to ITIL Practitioner training content and share in the rewards.
In 2014 the need to attend the premier annual conferences [ITSM14, SITS12, FUSION14, LEADIT14, NowForum…] to hear from the “opinion formers” has been less of a priority given the increasing power of individual practitioners to openly share their proven solutions to business issues with whoever is interested across any channel of digital interaction (e.g. webinar, slideshare, blog, video clip etc.)
It was perceived that the format of the UK ITSMF conference was a little tired because the focus was more on Theory (Shoulds and Oughts) with some degree of proven implementation guidance from the practitioners who have delivered outcomes that address real business challenges.
ITSM14 has become a meeting place to connect with colleagues either on the exhibition floor or dance floor with the dinner and industry awards ceremony the main event.
The highlight of the conference was the announcement of the ITSMBig4 Agenda for 2015.
“The Big4 Agenda refers to the set of key professional issues members have indicated they are facing, and the programme of information and activities being delivered by ITSMF UK to help deal with those issues.
In 2014 the Agenda items were Back to Basics (reliability), Skills, Managing Complexity, and Agile ITSM.
At the 2014 Conference four new items were agreed for the 2015 Agenda:
COLLABORATION – how do we work with others?
SERVICE MANAGEMENT OF THE FUTURE – what do we need to look like?
CAPABILITY FRAMEWORK – how do we build it?
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE – how do we ensure it is relevant?
we need to have a clear agenda, so as soon as one thing is done, we’re starting the next.”
John Windebank & Rosemary Gurney (Chair & Vice-Chair ITSMF UK) led the discussions on the recently announced ITSMF UK Big4 Agenda topics for 2015
LINK to Twitterchat compiled by Jane Suter @Jane_RTC
Started, Stalled or not Sustained
It was deeply disappointing that community initiatives launched in 2013 were not further developed or sustained in 2014. I did not envisage the level of change resistance and negative knock-back for the inaugural SM Congress core values and declaration.
Charles Araujo, the driving force behind SM Congress, provided an update in March LINK however there has been radio silence since.
The ITIL Manifesto is a SM Congress look-a-like and states the following:
“A community driven effort (with the knowledge and support of the Intellectual Property holder Axelos Ltd) to add structure to existing or new ideas on how ITIL is viewed/used/adopted and to create a manifesto which formalises these principles”.
Here is what the AXELOS declaration has to say:
“The Manifesto, which began life as a Google document before moving to Tricider, has been created to capture the thoughts of the ITSM community and is designed to gather ideas about ITIL – what it should be and what it shouldn’t be – as well as understand the core values of the proposition”. LINK
So as we enter 2015 the community is still fragmented playing into the hands of For Profit (AXELOS ITIL Manifesto) vs Non-Profit (ITSMF and the ITSMBig4 Agenda) with these initiatives covering the same ground and some industry experts Claire Agutter @ClaireAgutter involved in both initiatives.
Tomorrows Future Today – TFT14
Thanks to BrightTALK for hosting these events and for enabling the community to hear directly from Subject Matter Experts. You can peruse an extensive set of TFT Summer webinars here LINK
TFT14 saw a marked increase in submissions but did not have the same impact as TFT13 because viewer expectations had already been set very high and the wow factor had lessened second time around.
Having said that this slide presentation by Jon Hall (BMC) titled “The end of ITs monopoly on trust vital lessons from the consumer space” is worth a look LINK
In addition the Taking Service Forward – Adaptive Service Model has not been sustained.
It was lauded as “Future best practice for governing, managing, providing and consuming services will be dynamic, emerging, empirical and holistic. Bodies of knowledge will continually emerge based on input from real people consuming, brokering or providing real services”.
In May I tweeted the following question:
@TSF_ASM It has been over a month since the last tweet. Are you guys still part of the #Axelos roadmap? http://t.co/iviUIuRVAq #stalled
With respect to the Supplier / Product provider agenda ServiceNow continue to lead the Market.
One example is the NowForum London event which transferred to the Excel centre to accommodate the huge numbers of attendees. Registration at this event is complimentary with KPMG and Accenture as “big time consulting’ premium sponsors recognising the opportunity to generate leads.
How to Navigate the ServiceNow Smartphone Interface
The Service-Oriented Enterprise with ServiceNowLINK
“Every department in the enterprise is a service provider. While service relationships are well defined and automated within IT, they are often inefficient, unstructured or non-existent in other enterprise service domains. Georg Maureder, Solution Architect EMEA at ServiceNow will tell you how savvy IT leaders view this as an opportunity to help their business peers replace inefficient email-based service request and fulfilment processes with a proven IT service model”.
BMC – Smart IT + MyIT
“Make your customers the center of attention, and your service desk the life-blood of the organization. Whether accessing personal applications on a mobile device or requesting a business application at work, people expect it to be easy. BMC helps you deliver a better user experience on both sides of the service desk. Delight IT teams and business users with a personalized IT experience, and intelligent, mobile access to IT services”.
Video: Better together: Smart IT + MyIT (1:13) LINK
HP Service Anywhere
December Update offers an Enhanced Trial Experience
“Trial users can take our new guided tours through the Self-Service Portal, Hot Topics Analytics and Live Support. These tours highlight the differentiated value of these key Service Anywhere features.
The Self-Service Portal uses an engaging user experience and big data driven knowledge to drive self-sufficiency and the move to ticketless IT”
HP Mobile User Experience – Mobile Application Pulse
It was a refreshing surprise to see the marketing campaign and kudos to the AXELOS team.
“Global Marketing Campaign ‘Missing a vital component’ has been really well received and we have had a phenomenal response. As an example, we have run full page adverts in the Economist worldwide and the Financial Times to further raise the awareness of Global Best Practice”.
It would be very helpful if AXELOS provided more detail to support the “phenomenal response” statement and the CEO value proposition. Did any CEOs / CIOs sign-up for ITIL or Prince training.
As to be expected AXELOS placed the needs of the Pupil over Practitioners and imposed stringent controls for training organisations to become accredited by AXELOS.
It will be interesting to gauge community response when the full year training exam numbers and results of the AXELOS Profit Share are released.
After a bumpy start Kaimar Karu made a big difference as Head of ITSM in June he tweeted
@kaimarkaru: A little something I wrote on the future of #ITIL – LINK
There were new and refreshed ITIL White papers from “practitioners for practitioners”.
Maximize the Synergies Between ITIL and DevOps by Anthony Orr @AnthonyOrrAtBMC is a very good read and very much on topic. LINK
For all the good work that AXELOS delivered in 2014 I did not understand why there was such a low key celebration of the 25th Year Anniversary of the ITIL Service Management practices. Here is a blog post from AXELOS LINK
“The CPD programme will create and establish lifelong personal brand value by enabling individuals to stay current in their knowledge and protect the investment they have made in the AXELOS Global Best Practice qualifications”.
Moreover the role based focus on Continuous Professional Development is marketing spin to infer that a clear career path has been defined and agreed by the Service Management Community.
It would be very helpful to align the CPD with the Skills Framework for the Information Age
“SFIA is an industry framework (free to use, subject to licence) which contains the descriptions of 96 professional skills, each of which is defined in terms of up to seven skill levels. It also identifies generic levels of responsibility in the areas of autonomy, business skills, complexity and influence.
SFIA offers an invaluable tool to help individuals understand their own strengths and areas of weakness, and to assist employers and HR departments to understand training requirements, potential skills gaps, and specific skills requirements for particular roles”.
Matthew Burrows @MatthewKBurrows has been an evangelist for development and adoption of the SFIA framework over several years and his voice should be heard by AXELOS.
Capita group, which has a 51% stake in AXELOS, acquired G2G3 I guess for their Gamification capabilities. It was a surprise that Ken Gonzalez @ken_gonzalez became G2G3 Americas VP for Delivery given that he had a successful consulting practice.
G2G3 promote the Service Management Office – “We are happy to offer a one-hour complementary Service Management Office (SMO) consultation to help you get started”.
Here is a LINK to the SMO Start-Up Kit and 8 Steps for implementing a SMO
In 2015 it is all about Connectedness
Smarter connected Customers will increase use of Mobile Self-Service Apps for swift and easy information access to obtain immediate resolution that puts the Customer firmly in control.
Smarter Customers are increasingly choosing digital interactions rather than use Voice / IVR calls. They demand consistency across channels so that their Customer record and a full history / notes are always accessible. Digital interactions include voice, text, email, web chat, posting on social media and/or using a connected app.
Smarter Self-Service Portals will identify and know the Customer guiding them along the Customer Journey thereby removing the need to join lengthy call centre queues. Virtual Agents will also become part of an improved Customer Experience.
Smarter peer-to-peer support from always connected practitioners will help to identify solutions for common Service Management and DevOps challenges.
In 2015 creativity will continue to come from random connections, cross-pollination and easy sharing of ideas.
So it is up to you to choose how you connect to the world of DevOps and Service Management industry relevant content that will provide you with the most engaging experience and value.
Listed below is a selection of my tweets from the last twelve months:
DEC
@wdgll: @GoNavvia: Maximize your investment in #ITSM
#Collaboration brings ITSM process management to the #Social era http://t.co/C6S4t13ajN
@wdgll: Next generation mobile support tools
Smart IT with support for smartphones
#Remedy #ITSM
@BMCSoftware
@JonHall_ http://t.co/IOegiuWCtu
Kaimer Karu @wdgll: Leveraging #ITIL we can create conditions for success; but we still need people to achieve that success and autonomy http://t.co/cMWwwJzD8k
NOV
@wdgll: @RobertEStroud: #ISACA BELGIUM video from my recent visit to the chapter http://t.co/HSJ7lk1RvA
Run on a membership model to share knowledge
@wdgll: Improve appreciation of what other group is doing by having Dev and Ops participate in each other’s daily activities http://t.co/2gs5uUq2G2
@wdgll: @AXELOS_GBP: new corporate video
“Always ahead of the curve”
Prince 2 Agile published early next year http://t.co/kLjGQm2EJd
@KaimarKaru Leveraging #ITIL we can create conditions for success; but we still need people to achieve that success and autonomy http://t.co/cMWwwJzD8k
Here are my nominations for this year’s Service Management Champs:
Charles the Champion of Change Communities
From RevNet to the SM inaugural Congress
Sound quality improves in this short clip
“We are uncovering ways of meeting business needs through Service Management. Our achievements, experiences and insights compel us to adopt these values:
While there is value to the items on the right, we value the items on the left more:”.
Dancy the Disruptor
“TFT13, Tomorrow’s Future Today, is the world’s first 24-hour, global, follow-the-sun virtual conference. It has a size and level of innovation that has never been seen before”.
Mark Kawasaki – The Practitioner’s Road
Long video clip so worth coming back to.
“What I finally see clearly is this: I belong on the practitioner’s road. And my purpose here is different than most. I don’t want to help design a better automobile. I want public transportation”. http://www.windupbird.org/
Stuart the Strategic Service Management Steward
itSMFUK – Outstanding contribution to ITSM
I am not sure that Axelos would have moved forward or maintained momentum without his contribution to the Taking Service Forward Initiative.
The vision of Taking Service Forward is to provide the service community with an Adaptive Service Model. Link to Google+ community LINK
Barclay Broadcasts everywhere.
Barclay has popped up at forums and events across the globe and as a result his personal brand has grown significantly this year across the industry.
He readily shares his insights e.g. ITSMTV etc. however I have selected this clip to shine the Rae from ITSM Goodness to SIaM
Frank and Fred Forge Ahead to the Beginning of Now
Service Now is the world’s second largest SaaS product (Salesforce is #1)
ServiceNow is built on a proprietary platform that aims to automate and standardise business processes, becoming the enterprise-wide platform across IT and business operations.
In addition to capabilities for service management, additional capabilities have been built for HR Service Automation, customer relationship management and facilities management.
Tools alone will not deliver the solution to Business Issues. Whilst I recognise how easy it is to create apps I am not sure whether clients would purchase ServiceNow HR Service Automation over Workday, Peoplesoft HCM or SAP HR solutions.
Stroud the Smoothie
Robert has the ability to travel seamlessly across the islands of COBIT5, ITIL and Vendor (CA) communities.
Here is his provocative 5 min presentation at Leadit 13
If 90% of everything is crap then 90% of the way that you are doing Service Management is crap so you must find the 10% of process that really works.
How are you going to unlock value for the future?
Rob Remains Relentless
Rob England is Relentless in his specific / point challenges to others in the SM ecosystem, in particular Axelos. In 2013 he has come out of the shadows and written a well received book and presented at various forums.
“Rob England’s latest book Plus! The Standard+Case Approach, does in one short reading what many books attempt to accomplish in several years. S+C redefines the relationship for technology professionals by creating a route to customer experience, an improved skillset for ICT and redefines everything we thought we understood about “routine”. Chris Dancy, Founder, ServiceSphere Amazon LINK
BrightTALK – Grow Your Audience in 2014
BrightTALK is the “Best of the Best” platform in the eyes of practitioners and has organised many Summits where individuals readily share their insights.
It is important to understand that we can learn as much from the CHUMPS as we can from the Champs:
Axelos a Forward-Thinking Name for a Forward-Thinking Company
Not sure which design agency was chosen but good luck if you ever need to re-brand ITIL. Moreover, the change in logo from the Best Practice Management Swirl to the Axelos GBP (Global Best Practice) is the only visible change I have seen.
Perhaps there will be more forward thinking with the launch of the Axelos website.
Peter Hepworth the Axelos CEO portrays the image of either Tim Nice but Dim or a Gifted Amateur. He has been leading the global Axelos “Dog & Pony (Road) Show” and his lack of Industry, Product or content Knowledge is evident. This is in stark contrast to industry leaders such as Frank Slootman the ServiceNow CEO.
Here is one of his better performances which reflects a steady improvement in his canned speech notes. I suspect that he is more comfortable banging on about Gamification.
ITIL – Product Development Roadmap Priorities – LINK
“We are seeking to capture the most imperative propositions that will help identify the real value of our portfolio of products. We will be asking our ecosystem to support this process with case studies and real life examples as to the quantifiable benefits. We will share a series of propositions, in the form of short briefs for CEOs, at the end of the year and ask for your support with their continual development”.
“Research shows that gaming and simulation can improve the learning process. We will therefore explore this opportunity and work with specific strategic partners to ensure that our products are at the forefront of the digital age in terms of development and delivery”.
Axelos receive royalties from Examination Institutes for each ITIL exam taken. This recurring training revenue stream is the “Gift that keeps on Giving” and will guarantee Axelos employees a share of profits at end of 2014. Metrics drive behaviours so Axelos will shine the lens on Gamification and e-Learning to drive increased revenues.
An early example of generating additional training revenue is the “Official AXELOS ITIL Foundation Exam App” which was available on iTunes for download at £9.99 / $16
Chris Barrett the Axelos Transitions Director
Chris is much more credible however given that we are two weeks from launch date it is very disappointing that the Roadmap is still very high-level and mapped out by quarter. I suspect that if Chris were still a “Big-Time” consultant he would have been walked off the engagement because the high level view and workstream descriptions are not detailed enough to provide transparency of initiative priorities, deployment plans etc for the Programme Sponsor. One of the key deliverables is the Axelos Community Portal which will be available at the end of Q3 2014.
The Axelos Service Management Architecture workstream is 10 years behind most big-time and independent consultants who have helped their Local / Global clients with the design and implementation of proven IT Operating Models and End-to-End Service Models.
In 2014 there will be increased focus on how Cloud Services Brokerages will Challenge Traditional IT Service Providers for Cloud Services Delivery.
Another trend this year is where Industry stalwarts have been less opinionated. Stephen Mann transferred, after many years, from Forrester to ServiceNow. He has been consistently involved in the key community forums but for me is recording and observing rather than when he was at Forrester providing a thought provoking Point of View.
More worryingly Ken Gonzalez and Ian Clayton have changed their tone and been less vocal since they joined the G2G3 Americas team. G2G3 is part of the C(r)apita Group.
The Service Management ecosystem will continue to fence with more frequent and aggressive “Thrust and Parry response” moves, fighting with either foil or sabre. The natural tension between Profit (Axelos), Non-Profit (ISACA), Vendors and Customers will increase in 2014 with the lines blurring between who sits Inside the tent or Outside the tent.
Why do we need to be more relevant to our Consumer/Enterprise Customers?
The proportion of the global workforce dedicated to agriculture, products and services has changed dramatically and at a faster pace over the last 20 years:
In 2014 the principles of Service Management will be applied beyond Enterprise IT to predictably deliver outcomes for Consumer and Enterprise Customers. Lessons will be applied from Business Process Outsourcing and Operational Excellence. There will be a huge focus on moving from the Service Experience to Customer Experience with clear definition and measurement or outcome based Key Performance Indicators.
In 2014 we will officially be planning for the post ITIL environment. ITIL = Irrelevant Today Industry Leading Not
Axelos has consistently mentioned investment in products and the value proposition for CEOs. Whilst new idea generation is part of the equation in 2014 execution is just as important. I envisage that Axelos will pander to the needs of the Pupil over Practitioners and will reap what they sow.
Moreover, Axelos has not defined the criteria by which any artefact will be categorised as “Global” Best Practice.
In 2014 Standards of Service Excellence will be set and validated by the global self-organizing community.
So in 2014 we will see the pooling of collective wisdom and increasing power of individual practitioners to share their insight with whoever is interested across any channel of interaction.
In 2014 it is important that we encourage any new or different thinking. TFT13 was a huge success. The submissions for TFT14 in February will require careful review in order to maintain the standards of excellence and meet the viewers expectations.
So who will take the
Service Management “Moral High Ground” in 2014?
The 2014 champions will be the individual practitioners who have delivered outcomes that address real business challenges. They will readily share proven solutions to business issues via platforms such as Google Helpouts. Those seeking help may opt to pay a sum they think the practical advice is worth.
In 2014 creativity will come from spontaneity, from random connections, from cross-pollination and easy sharing of ideas. A new cadre of “Opinion Formers” will take the global stage. There are no lines to be learned and the members of the cast will extend beyond the “same old same old” set of champions. As we Shift Right new voices from India, Singapore, Philippines etc. will join the dialogue. To this end keep an eye on the folk at HCL.
My related posts:
Is TFT13, not the ITIL joint venture, the way forward for IT Service Management Practices? LINK
ServiceNow NowForum with presentations from CEO Frank Slootman and CTO Fred Luddy. LINK
Gartner Says Get Gamification working for you LINK
Gartner research note sets out how the Cloud Services Brokerage market will grow LINK
Are you invited to join the Google Helpouts marketplace? LINK
“TFT, Tomorrow’s Future Today, is the world’s first 24-hour, global, follow-the-sun virtual conference. It has a size and level of innovation that has never been seen before.
Speakers are selected by their peers and elevated to a global stage overnight.
All content is accessible, without registration, pushed to Kindle and Evernote, available on iTunes, Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud.
TFT unites knowledge workers turning them into a global network of influencers, organizations and consumers”.
ITIL Joint Venture announcement: Chris Barrett Interview
NewCo Chris Barrett talks about relevancy, pragmatism and listening to ideas from all stakeholders in order to grow the community and take ITIL and PPM to the next level. Tread carefully NewCo as the next level could be either the penthouse or the basement.
Is it worth paying for stale ITIL Intellectual Property that is released at two different rhythms “2 speed ITIL” or access free cutting-edge content from TFT13 which is more freely accessible?
Peter Hepworth – ITIL Joint Venture – NewCo CEO
“Listening to and talking with as many people as possible at this stage will help us shape how we work in the future and ensure minimal disruption to all parties during the transition phase.
How do you plan to involve the practitioner community?
One of our key priorities is to involve practitioners. We want to jointly determine the best way to do this, which is part of the open dialogue we are starting now. We will increase our presence and voice via social media and also at community events and conferences. I want to see a two-way stream of communication as we move towards the real start of business in January.
My most recent experience in video games is interesting from a number of perspectives; the digital transition that games have been through; the importance of connected communities and the opportunities for simulation and the principles of game design to continue to improve training and learning”
So “Gamification” and simulations may help NewCo to improve “Best Management Practice” training delivery, which is estimated to be a $1bn global business, but the gamification topic is moving at a different pace with companies like Bunchball improving the user engagement experience for their clients.
One of the NewCo routes to growth will be served by “Building an online community supported by a collaborative / social platform”
In my view the community of IT Service Management practitioners will only free up an hour of their day to join a “BrightTALK” hosted webinar if the topic and presenter have an authentic / original point of view and message to convey.
Bill Gates wrote in 1996 that “content is king” with respect to the Internet and nearly 20 years on we are at a fork in the road for IT Service Maangement practices where you either purchase content from a Central Knowledge Repository (NewCo) or you create your own personal “Knowledge Locker” and openly share ideas and information.
Chris Dancy with his disruptive TFT13 model is providing a global digital platform for IT Service Management practitioners (consumers) to make the right hyper-connections with “cutting edge” content creators. Content submissions are voted upon and during speaker sessions the community is able to provide real-time feedback and further enrich the dialogue.
The TFT13 model of content creation for multi-channel consumption is the way forward and will continue to disrupt the IT Service Management industry.
Having contributed to the ITILv3 2007 edition, I am not interested in creating content for the JV central Body of Knowledge so that NewCo an profit from my ideas (e.g. End-to-End Service Model). As I said in a previous Tweet – “I Think I’ll Leave” ITIL behind me.
Here is a link to the TFT13 videos – LINK – Check out the Mark Kawasaki clip which has generated much comment.
It is important to keep up with the latest research and predictions from the leading analysts. With this in mind I have selected three contributions from Forrester.
There is a growing expectation gap between IT and the consumer
Key forces and challenges are driving the need to Transform IT
The need for speed is accelerating – and IT isn’t keeping up
Matt Brown – Vice President serving CIOs
What we are witnessing is a growing expectations gap where consumer technology markets are moving so fast that IT is having a hard time keeping up.
Work is getting separated from place with more and more remote work.
Eveline Oehrlich (Hubbert) – BrightTalk webinar 31 May
This week there are two Service / Help Desk conferences taking place in London and Orlando.
In the past the main aim of individuals attending these conferences was to “swan around” and visit as many vendor stands as possible in order to pick up items for their goodie bag. Typically, Vendors showcase new product functionality, however I am not sure how many customer enquiries are converted into firm orders / sales.
In practice not many organisations will be able to make a compelling business case to “rip and replace” their existing solutions. It is important to understand that a solution that is not web, mobile or social enabled will not be fit for the future. It is not possible to transform a “Lada into a Lexus” overnight.
Most large or mature organisations that have moved to a multi-sourcing model will be more focussed on establishing automated interfaces between the various service provider solutions in the value chain. For example, a Global Service Desk may have implemented one Service Management solution and end-to-end interfaces need to be established to their Level 2 / Level 3 external service provider tools.
So attendees have shifted their focus from browsing the exhibition hall and listening to Vendors wax on about all things social / mobile to booking in for the keynote and seminar sessions.
I have looked at the schedules for both conferences and picked out one topic from each side of the pond.
The Service Desk & IT Support Show features the ITSM industry’s leading specialist vendors, integrators, consultancies and service providers.
Lean IT Moving Beyond Cost Savings
Roy Illsley @royillsley is principal analyst, infrastructure management for Ovum
Here is a taster of his presentation.
“Lean IT is becoming a vogue term for how organizations can look to ensure the operational aspects of other functions in business can be made more efficient; hence the term operational efficiency (OE) is now more widely understood. However, moving a function like IT to be a ‘lean’ operation requires organizational change as well as a shift in thinking by the IT department. Critical to this is defining the role of IT within the enterprise and getting both business leaders and IT to agree on the key aspects of responsibility and accountability”
At 3:00 mins – IT must respond at the speed of the Business
At 5:30 – ITIL is not a given right to success
Roy will present the OVUM Model (Chart) at this session
Here is a LINKto his article – Lean IT much greater than a cost saving exercise
“The biggest lesson for any IT department is that lean IT is not about the tools that are used; it is about the processes and procedures deployed.”
The Lean IT: Moving Beyond Cost Savings research paper is available for $1895. Scope:
Segmenting the responsibilities is key to understanding the Lean IT model
Recognize the role of IT differs within and between organizations
Business Relationship Managers (BRMs) do not operate in isolation
Changing the IT service delivery approach to a demand-led model
MOVING TO A LEARNING-BASED APPROACH IS CENTRAL TO UNLOCKING BENEFIT FROM LEAN IT
People, process, and purpose are the key attributes
Session 610: Create, Innovate, and Get Out of the Cave
“IT has evolved so quickly that the average consumer now has access to more online services and collaboration tools at home than they do at the office.
Social media and collaborative technologies are setting expectations around delivery of IT services that most IT departments fail to meet.
Business managers have already started to bypass their IT departments to obtain services faster and IT appears to be losing control. IT organizations that are too slow to evolve face a real threat from outsourcing.
This session looks at the technologies you cannot afford to ignore in 2012.
What can we learn from these new trends?
How can we leverage these technologies to create a better IT experience in the workplace?
If IT is to maintain its reputation and deliver value, we need to change, and change fast.”
Speaker Patrick Bolger @patb0512, Chief Evangelist, Hornbill Service Management.
Here is a LINKto his presentation at SDITS 2011 entitled – Chaos to Value
Slide 7 – The Evolution of IT Focus
Slide 18 – How is IT serving top business priorities?
Slide 21 – Your ITSM Journey Plan
Slide 31 – Although Processes and Technology are important remember that People…
So which side of the pond is best?
Over the years, both conferences have placed more focus on improving the quality and awareness of new Service Management Practices.
This has been achieved through the sharing of thought leadership by recognised speakers at breakfast briefings, sessions across different subject streams and “expert” panels.
For me the HDI conference shades it because it has 8 streams and more recognised “experts” speaking.
e.g. Charles Araujo, Ian Clayton, Chris Dancy, Malcolm Fry, Lou Hunnebeck, Robert Stroud
It is deeply disappointing that both conferences are being held in the same week, so it will not be possible to hear from the “best of the best” in one conference setting. Patrick Bolger is attending SDITS and then he is jumping on a plane to present at HDI which is not ideal preparation.
Methinks Continual Service Improvement is required M’Lud to avoid a conference scheduling clash in 2013.
Ian Clayton (Principal – Service Management 101) and Kenneth Gonzalez “KENGON” (Managing Partner – Engaged Consulting)
Ian and Ken shared their perspectives in an informal manner.
Subject Matter
Fall from C-Level grace of ITSM, BSM and ITIL
How to successfully develop a service catalog
Next Generation Talk – what is around the corner? Drop the IT from the front of ITSM
Framework Wars – futility of COBIT vs ITIL argument proposing that one is better than the other
Fall from C-Level grace of ITSM, BSM and ITIL
Causes and Consequences
So what happened to the promise of ITIL and ITSM, why have they fallen from grace?
Dropping the IT from ITSM is not going to make a difference.
Need to explain ITSM and set senior stakeholder expectations. Service Management applied to IT
What are the immediate and future consequences?
Budgets are constrained so explore concept of Quick Wins – which are only true if the customer declares it a quick win
Putting things in 30, 60 and 90 day containers is important. Chop transformation project up into small bits
Build customer centric outcomes
There are so many sources of guidance that can be mined
Collaborate with communities of practice to solicit others viewpoints – LinkedIn, #Back2ITSM, #USMBOK etc.
How to successfully develop a service catalog
What is the definition of a service that a customer will recognise?
Example Product Catalogue. Relates to a customer scenario and what they are doing on a daily basis
A service is a type of product
Bundling and Unbundling services
Build a service request catalog
Service offerings are different based on which customer segment is utilising it
Next Generation Talk
Is it time to press reset on the service management button?
Is it you or your management who have pressed the button?
How is what you have implemented working for you right now?
Define and agree what do you need
Practitioners believe that we need to do things differently. Update or refresh our thinking
It is important to explore thinking and methods used by successful service provider organisations as a blueprint for next generation service management
Conversation is more vibrant around Next Generation.
We are not saying that anything is wrong however we must keep on the move – keep pace
Make sure are tools are sharp and training is even sharper
Do we need to press the reset button? No we need a mechanism for maintaining momentum
Framework Wars
Futility of COBIT vs ITIL proposing that one is better than another
It is the height of lunacy to only choose one.
How do we compare and contrast guidance in order to apply it more effectively
Frameworks must be compared against the same criteria
Position USMBOK – 90% of which is outside of IT. USMBOK – this is the language that I use
Customer centric thinking Outside-In conversation
What I consistently hear from clients is that ITIL is a dirty word because the significant project cost did not deliver the stated benefits or culture change. The PINK folks talk about Attitudes, Behaviours and Culture. Listen to what Troy has to say:
I agree that removing the IT from ITSM is not a panacea for all ills. Service Management is not the exclusive domain of the IT organisation rather Customer Service Management, Field Service Management and Supply Chain Service Management have been around just as long.
How about we focus on defining and agreeing upon the set of Service Management Practices which become the overarching theme (roof) that sits above the different process frameworks (pillars). (ITIL 2011 Edition, COBIT5, ISO/IEC 38500, ISO/IEC 20000, USMBOK, TIPU etc.)
Service Management Practices aim to strengthen the focus on ‘Business and IT integration’ and also recognise the need for management of IT throughout the complete service lifecycle.
You would not play a round of golf with only one club in your bag, so I agree with Ken that “it is the height of lunacy to choose one” over another framework.
Internal / External Service providers should strive to achieve Service Excellence by choosing from a smorgasbord of good (not best) practice guidance rather than eat from the one dish. Sitting at the table with the Business to talk about the desired outcomes they value is a given.
“The Outside-In Service Management™ (OI-SM) program helps service organizations apply “Outside-In” thinking to service management initiatives, ensuring customer centricity, customer thinking, and the creation of value for customers.”
I have not religiously applied “Outside-In” to my client projects choosing to stay with proven Six Sigma Voice of the Customer [VOC] principles. Basically the Voice of the Customer is a term that is used to describe the process of finding out what your customers want and need. This is accomplished by using surveys, stakeholder focus groups, workshops and actual interviews with your customers.
In addition, Lean Six Sigma for Service also sets out the way to focus on customers. LINK
A common mistake that I see with problem projects is that there is no concept of a joint Business and IT implementation team. Moreover the delivery of stated benefits is not reviewed regularly with the customer and formal sign-off obtained before the project advances to the next stage.
Opening video – Do you get it yet – are you ready?
IT Service Management is crying out for vision and leadership right now.
Leading practitioners are defining optimum practices in IT Service Management.
Attendees better understood the need to target the next level and how best to move another rung up the ladder.
The Pink team should be commended for inviting three creative and motivational speakers to address the conference plenary sessions.
Listening to conference key note speakers is the easy part. Putting key learning’s into practice is much more challenging.
Creativity expert and author Sir Ken Robinson explains what can happen when passion meets natural talent.
When people arrive at the element, they feel as if they are in the zone and inspired to achieve high performance.
The book sets out how to enhance creativity and innovation in both personal and professional settings
“When people’s passion is excited they engage in innovation and development”
“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original”
These quotes were shared on Twitter soon after his presentation ended.
“The great danger we face as we become more intimately involved with our computers … is that we’ll begin to lose our humanness, to sacrifice the very qualities that separate us from machines.”
We have become more superficial shallow thinkers.
Attentiveness is the ability to tune out distractions.
Joanne Cantor describes how to preserve productivity under information overload
Why you need a balanced information diet
If you were unable to attend the conference or view the livestream feeds I hope that these clips provide an overview of the ideas shared by these three key note speakers.
By taking these recommendations onboard attendees were energised to create Monday Morning Action Plans.
The conference opened with the rallying call that “ITSM is crying out for vision and leadership right now”
For me Leadership in Service Management Practices is about:
Acting as the Service Evangelist and inspiring those around you to achieve service excellence.
Fostering a service mindset and rewarding people who develop service acuity.
Adopting collaboration tools to engage with like minded professionals and continue the debate post conference.
Taking control of the future state vision back from Vendors into the ITSM community.
Social Service Desk – Adding social media channels to self service
Today, it’s about serving your customers across different channels, whether it’s web-based, online chat, mobile, social media like twitter or email because they are unlikely to pick up the phone.
New Service Desk Model attributes –
multi channel support
RSS feed subscription, forums, chatter
open lines of communication
collaborative knowledge capture and dissemination
and voice of the social customer drives new service development.
A workforce that works seamlessly across platforms and that blurs the divide between private and corporate IT.
wants IT delivered on its own terms
will informally leverage social media and web based services to reduce their own workload
The goal of support is to provide value by helping customers to use services to do their jobs.
Self service and peer support become the default support mechanisms.
Tools will have to facilitate greater communication with other products.
Things we need to unlearn:
• SD activity targets
• The language of ITIl
• The importance of process
• Service Desk as SPOC
• The SD has all the answers
To what extent did the Brighttalk – Service Desk Summit provide a look into the future?
For me, these two presentations soared to the mountain peak whilst others remained in the safe environment of base camp.
Crystal Miceli and James Finister know what good looks like. They are prepared to raise their heads above the parapet and provide a distinctive point of view.
Service desk professionals now operate in a business environment in which their end users or customers are “tech savvy.” This leads to a potential conflict spark point where IT customers believe that they have more IT know-how than the service desk.
The service desk and IT as a whole has to focus on becoming “customer savvy” to embrace these pressures. Customer savvy starts firmly with the soft skills of I&O professionals. Simply, it is the ability to listen to your users/customers and to take on board their IT service suggestions. Secondly, it is then the ability to apply your IT knowledge and experience to these suggestions from a risk, cost, and potential competitive perspective.
Jeff Weinstein (RightAnswers) adds – At the heart of a customer savvy service desk is the challenge for the team to really be on the pulse of its users and know how to address issues in proactive as well as reactive ways.
We’re already seeing clues about the future of the IT help desk today. The workforce is beginning to become more distributed and mobile, while the nature and number of devices people use day-to-day changes rapidly.
The trend toward socially infused customer support probably has only a limited relevance to company IT departments, whose “customers” are really internal staff.
Not only is the nature of the workforce itself becoming more mobile, but so too are the tools used by IT staff to fix problems. We’re already seeing really solid mobile and tablet apps for things like help desk software, remote desktop support, accessing servers via SSH or FTP and managing networks, to name a few. As smartphones and especially tablets become more ubiquitous and powerful, we can realistically expect to see even more robust administrative tools built for them
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/21028044]
In the future, it may not just be tablets and smartphones, but other connected devices as well. As the Web continues to grow outside of its original desktop boundaries, the list of devices IT departments need to support could grow as well. Anything that connects to the Internet and has a potential professional use is something that IT staff will at least need to be familiar with, even if they’re not fully supporting it
“Since it was introduced at Dreamforce, Remedyforce has helped IT departments of all sizes achieve greater success using social, mobile and open, cloud technologies,” said George Hu, executive vice president, salesforce.com. “BMC and salesforce.com are helping to automate the social enterprise by providing the leading IT help desk app in the industry built on Force.com.”
Social IT support – what is it and how does it work? –
While traditional IT support is built on a closed “one-to-one” communication between you and your service desk, social IT support is built on an open “one-to-many” communication between you and your community
It’s relatively easy to introduce social IT into your business. Since most, if not all of your employees or colleagues will already understand the concepts of social media through their use of platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, all you need to do is enable these ways of working within the workplace. There are a growing number of social IT service management platforms emerging, either built entirely on the concepts of social media, or integrating some of these concepts to enable organisations to embrace this new way of working.
“Service Desk 2017”
“Lots of interest in @sdi_institute up and coming paper on Service Desk 2017.
If you’ve a view of the future get in touch if I forgot to ask!” @howardkendall
“Anatomy of the Service Desk”
LANDesk & the SDI are compiling a new whitepaper for 2012 –
The paper will look at how ITSM professionals spend their time, biggest time drains, and levels of pressure, while suggesting ways to improve service desk time-management and productivity.
Chris Dancy, Matthew Hooper and Matt Beran (twitter #ITSMWP) if you have the stamina to sit through 5 episodes!
MyPredictions for the “Service Desk” of the future
Will there be a Service Desk in the future?
The current view of the service desk as a single point of contact for users will not endure. There will be virtualised operations from multiple locations with no concept of a centralised function. This formation will become the default model in the short term to achieve cost savings through less facilities overheads – Telephony, Buildings etc.
Where required to do so, service personnel will be spread across geographies to provide Follow the Sun coverage.
The Service Desk will need to transform into a Customer Interaction Capability that maintains the channel of the customer’s choice with little requirement for human voice interaction.
Non-voice technology – multi-channels – will enable users / customers to communicate just as easily in any format as they do by voice.
In the future more and more customer interactions will occur on the go to help keep track of information from cradle to grave.
“Phablets” Smartphones / tablets will be aware when utility (fit for use) is sub-optimal and will communicate directly with the SaaS product in the Cloud
The future is about the Customer Experience. So can the Customer Interaction Capability keep up with their demanding expectations for instant gratification?
What will the new Customer Interaction Capability be called?
Mult-Channel Service Centre, Service Interaction Centre, Service Storefront…
Have your say – @WDGLL or whatdoesgoodlooklike@gmail.com
The term “World Class” is typically thrown around loosely by Marketing Departments, however the need to exceed customers expectations for the Olympic Games is a given.
At 01:51 the LOCOG (London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games) CEO talks about the Customer Experience, how information will be consumed and how it can be enriched through social media.
Technology will improve access to competition information, as it happens, to audiences worldwide across an increasingly complex network of channels for consumption via multiple platforms.
The IT Service Management organisation that is in place to flawlessly deliver information at the Olympics must have a Zero Tolerance [of failure] policy in place and rigorously tested worst case scenarios, such as a large-scale cyber attack.
So let’s take a look at the Service Model. Atos Origin is the prime service integrator and is responsible for leading a consortium of IT partners to design, build and operate the mission critical IT infrastructure and solutions that support the 2012 Games. The Olympic Games are a complex mix of technology, processes and people across multiple partners with many varied dependencies.
A Technology Operations Centre has been established in Canary Wharf. The TOC monitors and controls the IT systems that deliver the results from all the Olympic competitions to the world’s media in real time. For the London Games, Atos expects to process 30% more results data than in Beijing via the Competition Information System and Olympic Data Feed.
CISCO is providing an end to end borderless network infrastructure to make the Olympic Games the most connected sporting event the world has ever seen.
Let’s hope that the huge worldwide customer demand for consumption of live streaming and multimedia over the web can be met by the London Internet Exchange (LINX} which has 10 Points of Presence across London.
The Testing Programme was completed in late 2011 and the “Final Technical Rehearsal 2” will be executed from Feb to Apr.
01:16 – The Technology required for the Olympics is 10 times bigger than for the World Cup because of the number of simultaneous competitions happening at the same time.
SERVICE TRANSITION
The Service Validation and Testing process is described in the above core volume, pages 150-174. The purpose of service validation and testing is to ensure that a new or changed IT service is fit for purpose (Utility) and fit for use (Warranty).
“When validating and testing an end-to-end service, the interfaces to suppliers, customers and partners are important”.
By mapping out the service components in an end-to-end chain and defining where the service boundary lies it is possible to clarify and agree ownership responsibility and who needs to be involved in Service Rehearsals.
A Critical Success Factor (Page 174) states that “Providing evidence that the service assets and configurations have been built and implemented correctly in addition to the service delivering what the customer needs.”
In the event of a Major Incident
Atos has a Major Events Unit which has accumulated extensive and valuable know-how through its involvement with the world’s largest sporting events. This knowledge base is not only limited to the technology, Atos has gathered an in-depth understanding of the processes, risks, people and issues behind an event. Moreover BT has also mobilised a Major Incident Team for the Olympics.
Not Even Good Service Management Practice Let Alone World Class
The decision by LOCOG (London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games) to suspend the resale of tickets via the Ticketmaster website after problems is a possible portend for the future. The comments by the LOCOG CEO where he stated that “some frustration from prospective purchasers is inevitable” is very disappointing.
Whilst the core infrastructure has been tested and the operational readiness of the Technology Operations Centre has been confirmed, I still envisage that there will be service impacting issues due to insufficient end-to-end service acceptance and readiness testing.
A comprehensive “End-to-End” Service Rehearsal should be conducted. This exercise will highlight if there are any bottlenecks in the dissemination of information services to the Customer.
For example, the Mobile Network Operators must provide assurance that video/data services can be delivered with no delay over the 3G infrastructure.
Another concern that I have is that the Twitter platform will not be able to cope with volumes at peak event times and there will be a significant delay to the delivery of Tweets.
Top of my worry list is that on the 05th August a global community will be watching the men’s 100m final and any service issues will be unacceptable and adversely impact the reputation of the IOC.
thisiswhatgoodlookslike 