skeptic's blog

Jedi Problem Management

Submitted by skeptic on Mon, 2012-03-12 04:53

After my last post, I feel we need something lighter. So here is Jedi Problem Management:

itSMF behaviour beyond the pale

Submitted by skeptic on Thu, 2012-03-08 21:49

I'm all for a little infighting in itSMF: it keeps everyone on their toes and it keeps this blog entertained. But now somebody has gone way beyond the pale with behaviour that is utterly unacceptable in any civilised business community. In fact it is probably legally actionable. I call on ITSM community members to deal with it. This is a long post, but if you are involved in itSMF, please read it. We have a nasty problem in our midst.

How and why I use Twitter

Submitted by skeptic on Fri, 2012-03-02 01:49

Recently I copped some flak regarding my Twitter usage policies. So now we've all calmed down I thought I'd whip the storm up again by explaining why and how I use Twitter: this technique might be useful for you.

the value of ITIL certification

Submitted by skeptic on Mon, 2012-02-27 21:07

ITSM Portal raises the question of the value of ITIL certifications. To me they aren't worth much.

The uselessness of ITIL process maturity assessment

Submitted by skeptic on Sat, 2012-02-25 21:15

I'm looking at a "classic" process maturity assessment done by a consulting firm for a client, and what a useless document it is. I'm not saying who sent it to me or why or where from. That isn't important here because so many assessments are similar. Compare yours.

The report analyses 8 practices. It doesn't say why those eight. ITIL has 27 or so, COBIT about 40. They are a typical eight: Incident, Request, Problem, Change, SACM, SLM, Knowledge, Catalogue.

Whining about the IT department

Submitted by skeptic on Thu, 2012-02-16 10:09

If ever there was a classic example of how business people can become spoilt whining brats when it comes to IT services, it is in a recent article in Forbes online. Clearly, organisations have a stupendous amount of work to do to educate their staff in how to be grown-up about IT as a resource (no it is not IT's job to do this):

User self-help - a skeptical view

Submitted by skeptic on Sun, 2012-02-12 19:37

Continuing our debate about social media it occurred to me what a load of bollocks this idea is that users are going to support each other without a service desk.

The future of IT management

Submitted by skeptic on Tue, 2012-02-07 21:22

We're having lots of great debate about a number of areas that are supposedly going to transform IT. The focus of this blog is IT management, so here are some thoughts on what is and isn't going to transform IT management, including some long-overdue predictions from the IT Swami!

ITIL doesn't add overhead

Submitted by skeptic on Mon, 2012-02-06 21:12

I'm intrigued by the endless repetition of the chant "ITIL slows things down". No it doesn't. Doing things properly slows things down.

The difference between ITIL and COBIT for consultants: four words

Submitted by skeptic on Mon, 2012-02-06 01:46

As a consultant, COBIT is my first-choice body of knowledge for my engagements. I go to it first* to assess, to frame, to define, to justify, to audit. I turn to ITIL second, when I need more detail, or when I need the authority of the holy of holies to justify what I suggest. There are two reasons for this:

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