The IT Skeptic - Comments for "itSMF publish their list of ITIL Version 3 processes"

an act of terrorism

skeptic — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:30:30 +0000

If the act of a few hundred extremists from an unrelated nation (mostly Saudis) justifies the invasion of Iraq for you, then that reveals the kind of "death to all ragheads" thinking that got America into this pickle. If an act of terrorism justifies the sacking of a sovereign nation then that is a sad reflection on US morality and diplomatic maturity.

I agree entirely with your comments regarding problem management - it is a shame they are spoiled by a personal attack. Anonymous posting is permitted on this blog, and I myself have taken more than one swipe at "Yanks" in the past. The US did indeed have the fall of the dollar coming, which is what the poster was saying. His point was that waging war may enrich a few in the military industrial complex but it weakens the nation as a whole, as clearly indicated by the US dollar.

Karl Rove would be proud

Green Visitor — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:27:38 +0000

That's the reasoned debate? Invoke 911 and righteous indignation? Let's just compare me to Hitler so I can invoke Godwin's law and we can both go home.

I find your comments offensive

ianclayton — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 06:33:38 +0000

Dear Visitor

I find your comments offensive and unnecessary. I live here as an ex-pat Brit and I think your references to "Yanks" is demeaning and piffy. No-one asked to have planes plough into their city - and all under an anonymous post - you clearly don't have the balls to say what you said openly.

As for ITIl and Problem management - ITIL has got problem management wrong from the get-go and learned nothing from the established discipline of problem management. You expose your ignorance by referring to it as source of any practice. Where in ITIL do they show or explain how to state the problem and its impact? What about control barrier analysis - a basis pre-root cause analysis activity anywhere outside of ITIL?

Another ITIL centric consultative opinion.

Ian M. Clayton, ITIL Service Manager, CSMP, ITSM Master
itSMF USA Lifetime Award Recipient 2005

Call to Action?

kengon — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:40:20 +0000

I like your take on this. Thanks for adding this element, it's a nice contrast. In considering all the other comments, even if someone decides to call the push for "green" a clever marketing device or a fad (and be in violent agreement about it), I think there is goodness to be found here.

There was a point in time when nothing was recycled! Some of you (obviously) can remember those days. Was it that it couldn't be done? Not necessarily. Even once it could be done, why didn't it take off? Well, it was a lack of a sufficient monetary driver. No amount of environmental rhetoric can alter behavior like a swift kick in the wallet.

Further, if most companies will use this "fad" to start their efforts to become more energy efficient to reduce costs or drive profits higher, I think they should go for it. If this could have the effect of raising an organizations (collective) consciousness regarding their impact on the environment and sustainability, that's a good thing. If that same organization changes their practices because of that, that's even better!

I think this could be an example of where doing the right thing is right on a number of different levels, even if that wasn't the driver for the initial call to action. I believe that corporate and social responsibility don't have to be mutually exclusive. One thing is sure. If you are going to make inroads in an area, you have to start somewhere. Not starting is no longer a viable option.

I'm not going to get all irate or offended about a lack of "fine motives" driving an organizations actions. I think that hearing any call to action and getting started is good enough for now...

Yanks have it coming

Green Visitor — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:11:36 +0000

Ian, the Green label is intended for topics involving environmental sustainability - not concerns about rising power bills. If you are going to trot out Green Service Management on a skeptical site, you should be able to coherently defend it.

And yes, the Yanks brought this issue upon themselves. Deficit spending (Iraq) with an inability to raise interest rates (subprime problems) are a surefire recipe for a weak dollar. Throw in instability in the middle east and you have a perfect American storm. If OPEC goes Euros, you'll see oil prices drop most everywhere except the USA.

If we think less hysterically, it can be argued that rising power costs are actually good for the planet. The higher costs restrict server proliferation and thereby restrict oil consumption and global emissions.

Increasing power costs create greater incentives for research and development for alternative solutions. Instead of a gathering storm, we have set the conditions for clever Yanks to solve the real underlying problem.

In others words, Green Service Management is NOT Green and probably makes the global problems worse. Is this what your clients are aiming for?

Now that I think about it, I believe this sort of non-linear thinking is covered in ITIL. It's called Problem Management.

Stop crying foul at the US.

ianclayton — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 23:18:46 +0000

Ever looked around you in a store - 90% of goods are manufactured in China. The internet driven demand for information and consequential explosion in server capacity caused smaller equipment (Blade style) to be forced into the same rack space -0 with a huge energy $ consequence. Much of what has been spoken about actually predates the oil issue. I just used that to emphasize what is ahead of us. The current panic is based upon hard dollars required to power the equipment. As IDC reported, for every $1 spent on IT equipment $0.50 is needed in energy costs. For once look ahead and risk assess what might happen. Incorporate the possibilities and common sense thinking into infrastructure design and management. Forget Green then - just talk to someone in the real world and ask them what their #1 financial pressure point is going into 2008.....

A huge consequence of ITIL is ITIL or certificate centric consulting. Don't be a victim - stop CCC now...stick a wet finger out of the nearest window and check teh wind direction .... there's a storm a coming...

Obviously a waste of time and space blogging here about it...

Ian M. Clayton, ITIL Service Manager, CSMP, ITSM Master
itSMF USA Lifetime Award Recipient 2005

Green is Inside and outside the data center

ianclayton — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 23:12:33 +0000

James

So true - the push has begun with disposal of equipment outside of the data center and has now moved to energy consumption/cost inside. Federal mandates here in the US are lagging behind the EU initiatives. That said - Congress is now on the subject and you will see major emphasis on ISO 9000/14XXX related standard. Hardware vendors have reacted - CIO/CFOs discuss it regularly, even Google has decided to build a data center nearer green energy sources!

Its as much a reality (I think more so) than ITSM, ITIL, - and it has $ and regulatory compliance backing.

Ian M. Clayton, ITIL Service Manager, CSMP, ITSM Master
itSMF USA Lifetime Award Recipient 2005

Not just energy

JamesFinister — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 22:25:10 +0000

Energy consumption comes into this, but we also need to consider the enviromental impact of computer manufacture and disposal. The EU now legislate about disposal.

For me there is a bigger issue. I see provision of IT as a service as at some level being a moral imperative, which broadens the topic to include how we treat users, customers, our own staff, and suppliers.

Its a currency issue not a Green one.

Visitor — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:23:07 +0000

Let's talk in "Real" terms.

Yes, oil is approaching $100USD/barrel. But when you consider the US dollar's value has dropped to .68 Euros or half the GBP, that number takes on considerable hot air.

$29B on power and cooling? Please refer to the note above on the US Dollar and hot air (much of that server growth was non-US). Further, it is a rationalization opportunity, not a Green initiative.

If I replace a gas-guzzling Hemi engine with 6-cylinder, can I call my vehicle a "Green SUV"?

Americans have gotten themselves into a pickle with the precipitous drop in the dollar. Labels like Green IT/SM only serve to mask the real issues and allow vendors to send clients off chasing their tails. Wait and see what happens when OPEC drops the dollar and starts trading oil in Euros.

Maybe they'll call it "Green Oil".

For every $1 spent on server, $0.50 is spent its energy needs

ianclayton — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 08:59:24 +0000

Skep

I'm as skeptical as many - you know that. I just feel that there is something in all this despite the vendor and analyst hype. Gartner placed it front and center at their expo and its getting plenty of industry exposure. Anyway, after the false expectations set by teh ITIL V3 launch and the latest 'meet the experts' ads by HP you'd think ITIL V3 cures gout!

Fact (?): According to IDC , in 2006 businesses world-wide spent about $55.4 billion
on new servers and approximately $29 billion to power and cool those machines. That is almost half the
cost of the equipment itself – for every $1 spent on the server, $0.50 is spent on energy to power and cool it!

Check out the thegreengrid.org and run a few searches on green data center - its not new, its been rumbling here in the US for nearly 2 years and the EPA have been driving it. With oil $100/barrel the panic is on...

It just seems new to many of us who were not watching that space. If the EPA adds energy ratings to computer equipment (as they are shaping up to do) watch the buzz really strike up.

We have a customer near Atlanta with more raised floor than any non-Gov data center and I can tell you they manage their IT performance by the Kw usage per sq foot! They are wired into the weather channel to predict energy needs to handle heatwaves, high humidity - this is a tangible money saver.

I bet I could get a CIO to commit to an energy management initiative before some of the ITIL 'experts' can get them to saddle up an ITIL project....

No I'm not Al Goring this.... just paying attention to a ton of press... and a practical response.

I do like the wit it generates though.... Oh check out the ASTM E1836-01 standard used by Facility Managers - you"ll notice a few relevant equations....

Ian M. Clayton, ITIL Service Manager, CSMP, ITSM Master
itSMF USA Lifetime Award Recipient 2005

count of SUVs in the parking lot

skeptic — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 08:13:02 +0000

The Skeptic let it pass because the Skeptic is very tired :-D

So IT uses 1.5% of US energy consumption. So a 10% reduction in total IT energy consumption would contribute 0.15% savings. Impressive.

Do a count of SUVs in the parking lot next time you visit an IT department.
The v-a-a-a-s-t asphalt-covered parking lot miles from the nearest public transport. Lit all night.

C'mon Ian: as fads go, green IT makes CMDB look like a serious long-term proposition.

What's next?

Homeland security service management (ban all Arabic character sets)?

Green is only a fad in the hands of a faddor!

ianclayton — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 19:48:51 +0000

A witty response to perhaps the most important question to be asked of IT in 2008.

Like many I have half tagged 'Green IT' as a possible trojan horse sales technique, and there is no doubt it will be for many in 2008. Your skepticism is valid but your sarcasm is not. A report submitted to the US Congress Aug. 2 by the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program outlined the energy challenges facing the IT industry and possible steps that can be taken to alleviate some of the problems.

According to the report the technology sector is seeing power consumption rise rapidly. The EPA estimated that the IT industry consumed about 61 billion kilowatt-hours in 2006—about 1.5 percent of the total electricity consumed in the United States—at a cost of about $4.5 billion.

Power consumption in the industry could nearly double by 2011, the report said. Federal servers and data centers accounted for about 10 percent—or 6 billion kwh—at an electrical cost of about $450 million.

Mandates have already been issued to Government agencies to find ways to pressure vendors to be more 'green' and to lower the carbon footprint and cost of Government Data Centers. Cost is a major factor in the service management equation, and anyway, who said it was off limited to today's customer focused consultant trained in ITIL?

As for your questions:

1) What is Green Service Management, well in part it is recognition that the cost of supplying energy is increasing rapidly. A recent admission by a State level IT Manager was that he could switch of 40% of his servers without any impact to quality after applying better practices and a bit of configuration management mapping of which did what.

2) Alternative fuels is now a reality with the US power grid being fed by wind and bio sources, it is a must to understand the source of the power used and to ask the supplier that question

Facilities Management is a key discipline here, with its international standards for calculating the power consumption of a square foot of space. What about the articles that point to more power being pulled by smaller servers (Blade)? It is a serious concern if from a cost perspective alone, let alone the by-products.

We may see a re-emergence of Asset and Capacity Management skills here to help us determine how much capacity is enough and whether equipment meets the new EnergyStar criteria (do you have energy rating stickers on refrigerators? Well watch out for that on servers real soon!)

Slick marketing - perhaps. Prudent positioning of services and body of knowledge - you bet. ITIL on recycled paper - well it would have saved a few trees, whales or whatever recycled paper does save today. Good thinking... watch this space for 500 Green Best Practices coming your way soon...

and yes, I live in California where we have rock pets and the silicon improvement program (SIP).

Ian M. Clayton, ITIL Service Manager, CSMP, ITSM Master
itSMF USA Lifetime Award Recipient 2005

Green Service Management

Green Visitor — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 15:11:39 +0000

Green Service Management? A shining example of topical marketing and Orwellian double-speak.

(I'm puzzled why the Skeptic gave this beauty a pass.)

What is Green Service Management? Alternative server fuels? Low-emission Incident Management? CIO sustainability? Al Gore's Service Catalogue?

Or is it a repackaged data center rationalization program?

(Sidebar: Is ITIL a pawn of the oil-industry? All those printed books on non-recycled paper. Think about it.)

Green and Lean Service Management

ianclayton — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:53:08 +0000

James

Its the biggest item in 2008 here in the US by our reading and we coined the phrase a while back and have just added Green Service Management to our Lean Service Management class. When you consider that technology such as blade servers, designed to save space, can multiply power consumption by 20-fold. ITIL V3 punted the topic of Facilities Management, returning to a dated 1970 description and missing the #1 responsibility - 'space planning', or trying to get as much bang per buck out of every square foot for the lowest operational cost....

And yes, Lean Service Management (or how to implement ITIL on a shoestring without the need for a CMDB, Service catalog, or any other pre-requisite major investment!!) is the next book I am working on... should be ready March 2008. We have offered its companion class for a while now..

Ian M. Clayton, ITIL Service Manager, CSMP, ITSM Master
itSMF USA Lifetime Award Recipient 2005

Going green

JamesFinister — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:43:46 +0000

You know I'm working in an office at the moment that takes being green quite seriously, and it really is refreshing that they only print things when they really have to. When the BEM first began to attract attention in the ITIL world I wondered about how IT could address how we impact on the wider community, but now it seems quite clear to me that we have to seriously address issues of recycling, power consumption and so on... perhaps there is another book to be written about the subject!

And of course, writing guidance which just tells people what they need to know, rather than demonstrating how many other managment fads we have read about whilst waiting around at an airport.

Oops...I'm Guilty of writing a telephone book!

ianclayton — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:28:31 +0000

James

Containing 2000+ pages, 340 diagrams and 134 tables.....
Well count me in as guilty on writing at least one telephone book (!). The ITSMBOK last weighed in at 585+ pages in 10.5x8in format - thats about 1.5" thick....

We are going green next year so watch out for the ITSMBOK moving to rice paper! We tries recycled but it looked a bit green.... can't beat bleached white paper... got any spare trees out there in NZ Skep?

Ian M. Clayton, ITIL Service Manager, CSMP, ITSM Master
itSMF USA Lifetime Award Recipient 2005

Come off it Skep!

JamesFinister — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:21:14 +0000

Rather than real life experience what the market needs is a set of telephone sized books with carefully chosen covers that regurgitate other theories and need a pocket book to make them accesible to the masses...no, hold on, that can't be right ;-)

For pity's sake someone make yourself rich

skeptic — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:57:56 +0000

Most trainers do not have your cred to be able to sell themselves instead of ITIL, Ian.

The bulk of the training industry will be dependent on ITIL to give them their cred... and their content. The majority of them don't have the practical experience.

So for them Version 3 presents a problem, since it has indeed been dumbed down as discussed in this thread and elsewhere. If they have little to add personally then V3 Foundations is pretty empty.

then there is the other problem that has been common to V2 and V3 (I can't speak for V1). JvB has hit the nail on the head for me: ITIL is a reference framework not an implementation framework. Students go away puzzled as to how they are actually going to use this, or if they can see that then how are they going to get from here to there. For pity's sake someone make yourself rich and us all happy by writing the book.

Injection of experiences creates distance from ITIL reference

ianclayton — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:56:39 +0000

James

Very well said. I too discovered that over many Manager classes I was drawn to include an increasing number of personal work experiences and my own interpretation to support the ITIL reference materials. Many of my students tend to be top line consultants from companies such as IBM, Unisys, Sun, HP, and Microsoft, as well as many independent consultants.

I realized I was adding a great percentage of extra content and tried to revert to book only but the students complained... (!) They also pressured me to write the "I Think Somethings Missing from ITIL" book. So many years back we decided to develop completely different classware to present our own view of service management. It was a breath of fresh air to us all.

ITIL is a contribution to service management. It is standing on the shoulders of giants from the 1970s and 1980s in many of its principles and frankly has the majority of concepts required to make it all work - missing. Now it is presented by many as the definitive reference - it is not. How many organizations can go from book to production?

Be bold - create materials based upon your view of how service management could and should be approached, use ITIL as one reference....and ask folks if they prefer to be versed in ITIL theory or your consultative expertise!

Ian M. Clayton, ITIL Service Manager, CSMP, ITSM Master
itSMF USA Lifetime Award Recipient 2005

ITIL 3 irrelevant?

JamesFinister — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:45:57 +0000

Jan

I might have read too much into this ;-)

So the best ITIL trainers will remain those with a real life experience of service management implementations and operation, not those with specific ITIL 3 "theory" knowledge? And what if the exam material differs from best practice? With the essay based manager's exam an excellent student could argue why they didn't agree with ITIL theory but with a multiple choice approach you can't argue.

When the original Foundation exam came out I thought it did a good job of making the examiners agree a common world view. I know that when I was teaching the manager's course back in Sunningdale days we put a lot of personal interprataion on the material which wasn't always consistent, or, in hindsight, right. On one occasion Ivor Mac was assessing my session on problem management and I deliberatly dumbed it down to be a book based session, only to be quite rightly criticsed for not doing my normal "what problem managment is really about" session. I feel we've gone back to those days. Reading the new "littler"guide, for instance, I don't get any feel that the concept of capability is importnat, yet I (reluctantly to begin with) consider that to be one of the most important changes between V2 and V3.