The IT Skeptic - Comments for "The itSMF website misses basic information"

Do not adjust your set

skeptic — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:03:14 +0000

yes I know. Technical problems with hosting. I know they're working over the weekend to fix it. Ah the joys of webmastering....

itSMF International website dead for over a day now...

Visitor — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:57:22 +0000

At the moment there is even more missing on the itSMF website; it has been down for over a day, and at this point it is still down...

Would it be the result of the struggle between itSMF UK and itSMF International?

There is no way one can

Visitor — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:00:33 +0000

There is no way one can compare itSMF to ISACA or even PMI.

itSMF is nothing close to them...

chalk and cheese

skeptic — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:57:57 +0000

To further reinforce my point, I'll use my favourite benchmark: ISACA. Compare the ISACA About page content, or the ease of use of the JOIN link which is at the top of each and every page.

Go to

Visitor — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:19:52 +0000

Go to http://www.itsmf.co.uk/

Look at the header.

It says itSMF - Home -

I guess it says it all...

the SA chapter has all that -- wait, no it doesn't

JoePearson — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:09:59 +0000

Reading your comments about the constitution and the rules of incorporation, I thought - well the SA chapter has that on their website. I remember reviewing it waaay back, when I was a committee member.

So I went to check - and no, it's not there any more. Maybe most members aren't really interested in that stuff?

*shrug* because the quality or lack thereof of itSMF(.*) websites is a distant second place in important to the participation of user members - those who aren't pushing tools, consulting or training, and aren't looking to drive their career into such organisations.

the vacuum he has to work in

skeptic — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:17:16 +0000

No I don't think that's fair. All traffic is good traffic, and the itSMFUK needs membership as much as any chapter. I know the webmaster works hard on the site. I don't envy the vacuum he has to work in. I think it reflects the deeper lack of a clear vision of what itSMFI is (surely there is not consensus that itSMFI exists as a service provider to the chapters) and a total unwillingness to post any internal information at all (now THAT could be a British thing!)

It's simple really......

Visitor — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:56:16 +0000

So the International website is pretty valueless.....
Is it just me or is the fact that it is operationally supported by itSMF UK something to do with it?
Be realistic: if you were itSMF UK how hard would you try -- knowing you stand to lose traffic to your own site?

not the official views of itSMFI??

skeptic — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 23:37:00 +0000

I acknowledged in this post both the CMS news portal and the forum as being good ("The website's strength is as an operational news site... There is a good forum ...").

I'm intrigued by the suggestion that itSMFI represents only the chapters and not the members. You seem to be suggesting that itSMFI is not itSMF's world-facing entity but rather a backroom provider to the chapter executives. This might come as a shock to many. It must be the only "back room" international organisation i can think of. Certainly the gulf between ISACA anbd itSMF looks even wider. What an extraordinary model where itSMFI takes no responsibility for representing itSMF as an entity to the world, nor of providing any commonality of communication or services. 53 sets of redundant services (which we have now) hardly makes much sense to me. itSMF's inability to reliably communciate anything to (or ask anything of) the whole world membership is a joke.

I hope that you do not represent the official views of itSMFI. But then what do I have to compare to in order to tell?

I completely agree with the

Visitor — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:27:15 +0000

I completely agree with the IT Skeptic's comments here. I recently spent a full frustrating week trying to navigate the broken links and awkward layout of the itSMF site. I've never had such a hard time trying to get an organization to take my money!

To "Anonymous Visitor"

Demos — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:39:52 +0000

You say "..you do not understand nor appreciate, that itSMF International's members are the Chapters and not the individual members.."
Extraordinary that you deride the role that individual members play in contributing to the health of the itSMFI. Who are the Chapters if they are not the sum of the individual members? This just confirms something I have thought for a while regarding the management of the itSMFI - that it cares nothing for individual members while happily taking their fees.

Oh, and BTW, good luck with that customer service thing.

The usual own goal!

Visitor — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:22:57 +0000

Skep

I love this. You've done it again! Far from missing basic information, you ought to look at your own efforts and your own understanding of what the itSMF is about. You are clearly lacking basic information.

I remember some time ago, you praising the itSMF International for using Drupal as the basis for its new website and for having the courage to open itself up with forums for individuals to comment and air their views and ideas. What has happened to change your mind?

I know that in "Castle-NZ", perhaps you may be a little isolated from the rest of the world, but it can survive and thrive in ITSM terms, without you. You do not understand nor appreciate, that itSMF International's members are the Chapters and not the individual members. Communications between itSMFI and the various Chapter Leaders continues to flourish as proven recently by the very sucessful Chapter Leadership Conference. Of the 53 Chapters then in existence, 43 were represented - that's pretty good by any stretch of the imagination. It is for the Chapters themselves to communicate to the membership, not itSMFI, except on strategic cross-Chapter issues and on overall governance.

And since when has the itSMF been all about ITIL? That might be a main stay of its work, but Service Management is much more than this - you should know that! You are not a member of itSMF International but of a Chapter, so I would advise you to address your questions to your own Chapter.