skeptic's blog

ITIL Intellectual Property under the new Axelos regime

Submitted by skeptic on Sat, 2013-08-10 07:20

Axelos has published Intellectual Property (copyright and trademark) guidance for ITIL, PRINCE2 and the rest of the "Swirl suite". Unintelligible Property guidance, more like. Combine it with worrying signs that Axelos want to start shaking down the consulting industry for dollars and it doesn't look good for we consultants.

Real IT: the RealIT of information technology

Submitted by skeptic on Wed, 2013-08-07 22:47

There is a term I have been using lately that I'd like to define - and claim :) Real IT. "RealIT" (reality, get it?) is the application of information and its technology to the functioning of an organisation. I.e. never mind the businesses that sell shiny tech things or that manage other peoples information, or all the other specialist tech businesses we are so captivated and distracted by. Real IT is about using IT to execute an organisation's mission.

The users who don't like IT

Submitted by skeptic on Thu, 2013-08-01 10:29

I said it today in a presentation: all IT people are geeks. Some of us pretend we aren't, but we all of us can make our smart-phone do what we want. This causes a cognitive state capture: when we spend all day immersed in the company of other geeks and we lose sight of the fact that most of the population aren't like that. Lots of folk can't upgrade their phone to a new version of Android. They wonder how they lost their emails. They just don't get how Evernote works. They see no reason to have Twitter lists or multiple accounts.

You can't always bring what you want: BYOD

Submitted by skeptic on Tue, 2013-07-30 09:52

ImageRambling Kid Realitsm has been writing and singing folk songs since the Seventies. As he gets older the realisation is dawning that his own special talent is not one that resonates with the public in such as way as to set him up for his retirement. With the Rolling Stones recently celebrating their 50th anniversary with an appearance at the Glastonbury festival - the one place that Rambling Kid has always craved a centre-stage appearance - Rambling Kid Realitsm has re-branded himself as Kid-R, and is working on his new single You Can't Always Bring What You Want. The IT Skeptic has obtained a leaked release of the early studio tapes, and whilst the soundtrack is not something I'd subject my readers to, the lyrics are interesting:

Where have itsmfi.org, itsmf.org and itsmf.com gone?

Submitted by skeptic on Thu, 2013-07-25 08:04

[Updated:] A lot of people are Apparently nobody at all was wondering where the itSMF International website has gone (it took about 9 days for me to see a mention of it). There appears to be no announcement (Where would they announce it? here for a start and via local chapters woudl have been nice) but here is what i can work out so far. It is cause for concern, including a security concern.

[Update: the itsmfi.org website is back on 25th July. I guess they went through and removed all mentions of itsmf.org, which is still - and presumably will remain - a Japanese dating site].

The Service Management Office

Submitted by skeptic on Tue, 2013-07-23 21:59

A Service Management Office (SMO) is an emerging idea in ITSM which I think is a very good one. It is directly analogous to a Project Management Office. I mapped out the deliverables of a Service Management Office recently, and thought I'd share.

How I manage my time with Google Calendar

Submitted by skeptic on Sat, 2013-07-20 00:17

Here's a simple technique for managing my time, which a few folk have said is quite good:

My time management is in the cloud, accessible from anywhere, share with anyone. And it is free.

Progress

Submitted by skeptic on Sun, 2013-07-14 03:47

Everyone has a go at pop-thinking these days so here's my little contribution. Sure I'm guilty of contributing to the ill-informed conjecture by the many whose only qualification is an internet connection, but I'd rather social conjecture than the pop-ITSM which also surrounds us.

The safety razor singularity

Submitted by skeptic on Tue, 2013-07-09 21:53

You may have missed it. We just passed through the Safety Razor Singularity, when safety razors achieved an infinite number of blades. Given the properties of infinity, I assume that means they have achieved consciousness. I have locked my bathroom from the outside, just to be sure.

Physical conferences aren't dead

Submitted by skeptic on Sat, 2013-07-06 00:12

I'm a big fan of and an active participant in the TFT virtual conferences. I think they are an amazing idea. But will they kill off real-world conferences? Nope. In fact I doubt they'll even cut into their attendance much. A physical conference has five advantages over the virtual:

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